


Lost on Earth, Really Ghost?

by Alewar8



Category: Destiny (Video Game), Transformers (Bay Movies), Transformers: Prime
Genre: Destiny Timeline, F/M, M/M, Other, Transformers Prime and Bay Timeline
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-31
Updated: 2018-09-02
Packaged: 2018-12-21 22:46:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 36,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11954283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alewar8/pseuds/Alewar8
Summary: "And what if he's fighting a losing battle on the other side?  Asher sacrificed himself so that we could kill the Taken King but we haven't even accomplished that.  As far as we know, it was Oryx that created the rift meaning he could do it again if he noticed something wrong.  He could go to wherever Asher is and start his conquest all over again." The room erupted in loud voices throwing out arguments."You can't stop us from trying!" James roared."You can bet your Ghost we can." Zavala returned."No," everyone turned to Locien.  "As of this moment Hawke-76, James Venator, Dren Walker and Imara Aclissius are under the service of the Reef." They could not argue this.  "Do not forget that your previous lack in communication with the Reef ended up with Petra exiled and over 300 Guardians decimated; whether you like it or not...we are going after Asher with or without your help or approval."They would go and find the Exo Hunter and find a way back from the other side.





	1. This is Earth?

**Author's Note:**

> So this follows a dream, well the idea stemmed from the dream of a friend of mine. So it follows some Prime but will move into the Bay Universe mostly for convenience and the lack of love for them.

**Chapter 1**

**My name is Asher-8 and I am a Guardian from Earth. My partner is Hunter, he is my Ghost and a vessel of light from the Traveler. I was forged in light, something Hunter continuously assured me of but I was not from Earth. I originated from Mars and I was stranded for weeks before I was able to make it back to Earth. I learned the history of the Traveler and the Golden Age it brought. How the Darkness followed it and brought the humans to the brink of extinction. The Speaker said it was coming back, human's would not survive a second hit from the darkness...they would truly be extinct. That is why we fight, to bring an end to the darkness. Then the Traveler will begin to heal and I thought then that it would end...but I was wrong. There was a Guardian who defeated the darkness, they traveled through Mars with their team but in the end only she was transported into the Black Garden. She alone stood against the Vex and their creator. She ripped out the Heart but not without a price. The Guardian did not return from the Black Garden and all that was found in her place was a ghost, void of all light.**

**Then Eris came and warned us of the Dark Below, her team fought in her honor and along with other Guardians, defeated Crota but that was not the end. We fought across the galaxy but it was not enough...Had we known, something might have been done.**

**Mara Sov, Queen of the Awoken, called upon the Ravagers to fight for the Reef. They answered and in turn we were called to fight as well. The House of Wolves would have been a great threat to all so we fought and we pushed back the Wolves. But, once again, it was not the end of our struggle...with his last breath Crota sent a cry into the dark. Thus another war began, the Taken King would kill us all...**

 

"Hunter where are we?" a small machine like being appeared beside the man clad in armor and a hooded cloak hung from his shoulders. He scanned their surroundings before disappearing again.

"We're on Earth Asher but...the air is a bit more polluted rather than changed. Where are the others?" Asher looked around the area but his team was gone.

"We said before that the essence probably wouldn't be enough to pass all of us through the portal, maybe it was just a fluke and we're near Old Russia." Asher moved forward, heading deeper into the cave. "Let's get top-side, maybe we'll be able to call Valkyrie to us." as he moved deeper a light came into view, with a quick look at his tracker he rushed forward and froze at the sight of two towering robots staring each other down.

"Stay hidden Asher!" Hunter said lowly and Asher slowly backed up, trying not to bring attention to himself then hid back in the dark of the cave.

"You really think keeping us from this Energon deposit will save your precious humans or your Autobots Prime? You think we need the Energon?” he scoffed. ”You won't get out of here alive." the green machine launched itself at the one he called Prime. Prime managed to push him back after a long while.

"I do not wish to end your spark but in order to save my comrades I have no choice." a large sword extended from his arm as he charged the machine. Asher couldn’t believe his optics, were these another form of Exos like him?

"Asher I've detected multiple points in the area, I think they're bombs!" Hunter brought up the locations to Asher's visor. Asher scanned the locations and gave a small tsk.

"Can we disable them?" he asked as he snuck around to the first bomb, keeping as quiet as possible. It ended up being a large piece of equipment with what he assumed were numbers in another language. This thing was intimidating as hell. "We can disable this right?" Hunter appeared before he could touch the thing and scanned it.

"I've managed to decode and block the signal but I was only able to get as far as the detonating code. The only way to detonate these would be if they were shot but still better safe than sorry.” Hunter disappeared in a burst of blue that had Asher looking back to the battling machines to see if they saw the light. “Their makeup is similar to that of the Fallen’s missile launch we found. Cut the gray wire first.” Asher unsheathed his knife and did so; the panel in the middle of it slid open and a glowing tube. “And now pull out what's inside."

“Are you sure this this isn’t going to blow up in my face?”  
“I’m 85% sure it won’t.” That’s comforting Hunter. Asher pulled out the cylinder and grunted as he caught it both both hands. "I don't know what it is but that's the explosive, try not drop the others. Four to-Move!" Asher blinked to the side quickly and just managed to avoid being squished by Prime. Hunter disappeared once more and Asher went invisible using the cloaking tech form his Blade Dancer before moving to the other devices. He did the same to each and with each source Hunter added it to their inventory for further analysis. At the last explosive device Prime was thrown again into the cave's wall and the latter gave a gurgled laugh before a portal of some kind opened behind him and another machine creature stood waiting with his arms crossed. This machine held one eye and seemed to be impatient in his waiting for the green one.

"Megatron is waiting Brawl, get your ass in gear." Brawl hurried through the portal without a glance to Prime. The cyclops though took one last look at Prime's fallen form struggling to stand before following Brawl through and letting the portal close. Asher quickly removed the last cylinder and Hunter took it into their inventory.

"Unblock the signal Hunter, let them think they've won." With that said Asher moved forward, his Arc Blade sitting comfortably on his back and a void fusion rifle in his hands. From the looks of it, this guy could be a potential ally but better safe than sorry, at least that’s what Imara always said. "Yo up there! Are you alright?" he called to Prime who looked down at him in alarm. Asher put a hand up in a placating manner, "Heya now, no need to worry we disarmed the bombs that Brawl guy had set up as a contingency plan. This place isn't blowing up anytime soon." the mechanized being visibly relaxed some and Asher counted that as a win, he was gaining more traction in the ally section.

"How have you come to find this place and how did you stay hidden for so long?" something blue gushed out Prime's side and Asher gave an Exo frown, the equivalent of a normal person’s frown. The Exo took a chance and set down his rifle altogether. He tilted his head back to look up at the Prime’s face.

"We're pretty sure you're hurt enough that whatever is flowing out between your fingers is a cause for us to worry. We need to get a better look at it before you can be moved." Prime hummed, a tinge of suspicion in his optics but offered the smaller being a servo. He helped Asher get up close to the hole in his side before he moved the other servo keeping the Energon in. Asher knew it was probably to entertain him rather than believing he could help, Hunter immediately thought about Asher’s own body structure at the sight. "Hunter, gather up some spinmetal we have in the inventory and recreate what I use for me but bigger. That should be able to hold it closed until he can get back to his Autobots." Hunter gave a mental affirmative to the man’s muttered sentence. "My name's Asher-8, most call me Asher but some refer to me as 8."

"I am Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots." Asher gave a non-committing hum in return, letting Hunter tap in and assess the damage through his eyes.

"Alright Optimus, we can call you that right?" Prime nodded. "This is what we're going to do, we have no idea how to fix you. You're structure is similar to what I've seen but I don't want to risk injuring you further. For now we're going to put a bandage of sorts to stop the…” Hunter got out of Asher’s optic systems and got the spinmetal ready. “...bleeding." Asher drew closer but in his distraction he mis stepped. As he fell back, Prime's digit came up and kept him upright. Asher’s arms had come up in an attempt to find something to steady him but all he felt was air. The Exo took a big, dramatic puff of air in as he righted himself.

"Are you alright?" Asher nodded his head, yet another point added to the ally section. "How is it that you've seen a being similar to me?"

"Where we're from, there's tons of miniature you...of sorts. Robotic beings are not unheard of." Asher grew closer with Prime's help and with a hand over the hole, Hunter had the spinmetal appear over and inside it. Prime gave a rumbled groan and Asher patted the servo holding him up. "That should stop you from losing anymore, now we overheard that thing say something about you needing this," he gestured to the glowing crystals in the cave. "To save the Autobots?"

"They were ambushed, this was the closest Energon deposit we could find and they need it to make a full recovery. My Medic, Ratchet, is on standby. He and I were the only ones left mostly unscathed, the others are farther away on their own respective missions." Asher nodded and jumped out of Prime's servo, the bot jolted at the action but with his booster's help Asher jumped again before hitting the ground and landed somewhat gently on the floor.

"Can you get in contact with your friend?" Prime shook his head, his optics wide and almost disbelieving as he stared down at what he thought to be a human.

"My communications have been damaged, I cannot contact Ratchet." Asher gave a huff. "But I can open a portal," a smaller device detached itself from his arm. "This will work once."

"Alright, so do it and go talk to your friend. We can hold down the fort 'til you get back." Prime struggled up, his form towering over Asher who whistled at the height. "Yeah we can definitely hold it down." Asher picked up his Fusion Rifle again, the large mech opening his lip plates to argue about leaving him alone here. "No arguing Optimus, we may have just met but up to this point you've shown us we can trust you...for now at least. We've taken on things about your size so we should be fine." Prime hummed, hesitating a bit before he activated the device. A portal opened and Asher let Hunter analyze through him again.

"I will return Asher-8," and with those words he was gone.

"He'll want answers Hunter," said Ghost appeared before him. "Have you figured out what the hell happened? Just where the hell are we exactly?"

"We are on Earth Asher but..." Asher looked up at the sky and saw no Fallen jump ships or that of the Hive. "I'm going to take a look, maybe I can get a signal and figure out where we are exactly." Asher nodded at his partner and the Ghost flew off. Asher turned his attention to the crystals.

"He called it Energon," he walked over and tapped it. Nothing happened so he hummed, a guttural purring noise drew his attention from the crystals. Asher turned, his rifle up at attention, what he found was a robotic cat. Well cat made him think tiny but in actuality the beast was the size of lion, if not a bit bigger. Said beast inched closer so he lowered his rifle and reached out to it. The beast purred and rubbed its head against his hand, "So are you an Autobot too?" the cat's demeanor did a complete 360, it jumped back and growled. Asher brought up his rifle again, "Oookaaay...wrong question." the beast jumped at him and Asher cursed, his rifle needed to charge before firing but this thing was too fast for that. He managed to move to the side at the last moment. He put a hand to his sword handle, switching the gun for his saber. "Seriously, it's just my luck." it roared, the screeching sound making Asher's head ring. "Aw don't be like that doll, why don't I scratch behind your ears?" it hissed and charged at him. Asher's sword crackled with the electricity of Arc energy. He swung as the thing jumped and the poor thing was cleaved in two.

"I leave you for five minutes and already you're getting into trouble?" Asher gave a smug feel to his partner as he straightened up and allowed the little machine to store his fusion rifle so he could place the sword on his back. Hunter sighed. "As I suspected, we are on Earth but it isn't our Earth. It is the year 2015, humans are thriving here." Asher tapped his foot before taking another look around the cave, Hunter took his silence as him processing the information.

"So you're practically saying we got transported back in time?" he said neutrally. Hunter gave a nervous feeling to his partner through their link and Asher grew suspicious. "Am I wrong Hunter?"

"Machines like Prime are not recorded in any of Earth's history." he replied, Asher’s optics narrowed at the vague response.

"Much of Earth's history was lost Ghost." Hunter hovered nervously, Asher only ever used his designation when he was running out of patience.

"Things like that would have been kept in stories, people would wonder where they went and why they didn't help us fight the darkness." Asher looked at the machine he cleaved in two. "Better yet, we would have been told if the Exo's were modeled after them...beings like this do not just disappear without something showing that they existed especially if they could have helped stop the darkness." Asher brought up a hand, waiting for his Ghost to sit there.

"What exactly are you implying here Ghost?" Hunter settled on his partner's outstretched hand.

"The portal sent us to a completely different galaxy...or better yet a different dimension. This is Earth so it cannot be a different galaxy. From what we know before the Collapse, this Earth fits that description with a few modifications." Asher sent a wave of warmth to soothe his partner. The Ghost was beginning to rant. “Still, I need to analyze further to see if we can get back.”

"If it has to do with the rift to get to Oryx we may not be able to, we’d have to recreate something similar.” Hunter hovered just above Asher’s hand. His shell twirled, a nervous tick he picked up.

“That would be dangerous and almost impossible, we would have to turn to the darkness that created it.” Asher sighed and nodded to his partner in understanding, he had thought the same.

“I don’t want to resort to their methods, we may as well think about what to say and how much alright?" Hunter disappeared. "We can make you seem like an A.I. within my equipment but I think it may be better for both of us if we tell the truth...from what I can tell these Autobots might be protecting this Earth’s Humanity and that’s gotta count for something." a portal opened again but instead of it being Optimus, it was another machine with what looked like wing flaps on his back, it reminded him of Laura's sparrow racing cloak. The thought made the thing acting as his heart twinge. Hunter disappeared, the being not registering as an enemy but Asher only took a deep “breath” to call up to it. "Whoa, you're pretty big. Gaining some weight there big guy?"

"Pathetic trash," he started off and Asher sighed, it was an evil peep. "You will not keep Lord Megatron from his conquest of this world." Hunter gave a mental nudge and Asher gave an affirmative in return.

"Look doll face, I know you're supposed to have this place destroyed or what not but I don't think you're thinking this through...heh funny. Anyway, you have one Autobot to kill, the leader of said team by the way, and this...Lord Megatron? He's your leader right? Right," he didn't wait for a response. "Why doesn't he come here and finish him off? What's he got to lose except if you destroy this place then everything will be ash and what will you gain from it if Prime lives?" The machine aimed his weapon and Asher crouched in response. "Well I guess that means you guys don't care then?" the gun flared and Asher turned invisible as he jumped behind a large boulder. "Fucking convenient." he muttered.

"Language Guardian!” the hunter scoffed in response. “Our best bet is to detach the head of that thing Asher." His rocket launcher appeared in his arms and Asher sighed.  
"Just another day huh?" he rolled out and fired a random one, it hit the machine in the chest and it stumbled back. "Head shots!" he said gleefully. He aimed and fired twice before taking cover to reload. He peeked out as he did and saw the machine growling out in pain, "Shit we took out its eyes! Awesome!" Hunter sighed, he never did listen when scolded.

"I'm getting a transmission Asher, I think it’s Optimus."

"Let 'em in I guess, can't exactly decipher your coding anyway since you're constantly changing it."

"Asher," and holy hell it was Optimus, Swordfish!

"What’s up big man?" he replied and went invisible again, eyes gone or not he was still a machine, he moved to get a better angle and to avoid the random shot the blind mechanized being was shooting. He had to take him out before the cave caved. “Hah! The cave caved...dammit Asher focus!”

"Ratchet and I are returning, is the area cleared?"

"Not yet, got this big guy trying to blast my head off. Count to thirty will you?"

"We're coming through," he responded but before Asher could get a word in, Hunter cut in.

"Asher and I can handle this. The last we saw Optimus, you had a hole in your side, both of you will remain where you are until I deem otherwise."

"My god Hunter, when did you get so sassy?"

"Who do you think I learned it from Asher?"

Asher gave a mock gasp, "So much sass!" he stood from his crouch and fired twice at the machine's face. "Woot woot!" and the Machine's head exploded with Void energy. Hunter took the Rocket launcher into their inventory as Asher walked over to poke at the fallen machine. When Hunter gave the affirmative that it was dead Asher planted his booty on its servo.

"Returning signal location, you may pass. The machine is dead." a portal opened soon after and Optimus stepped out with, who Asher and Hunter assumed, was Ratchet. "Cutting transmission," he told Asher before he went quiet.

"Well welcome back Optimus!" he said cheerfully. Ratchet sighed, “Hi you must be Ratchet, the wondrous Medic and marvelous, overall amazing engineer of the Autobots." At least he hoped he was right, where else would they get awesome portal tech.

Ratchet looked to Optimus, "He's tolerable." he then moved to the Energon and Optimus to Asher who was reclining on the machine's servo.

"Here come the questions Asher." Hunter warned.

"Alright Optimus, let's be semi-honest here." he said before he could start. "My name is Asher-8 and my partner is Hunter. He's an A.I. that helps me out when I'm fighting out there." he pointed up at the sky. "I can't tell you all the details considering the circumstances, it would take too damn long, but we're lost and possibly stranded here. Gotta trust ya some considering..." Ratchet came over and the portal opened again. "You're going to make me go with you aren't ya?" Optimus nodded and Asher sighed.

"It would be best if you came with us." Ratchet added in.

"Hunter and I need to set up a blocking signal, that way they can't open a portal like you. Not within a 60 to 100 mile radius." A beacon appeared in his hands, he placed it in between the machines uncurled digits. He jumped off and jogged over to Optimus who offered his own servo. "Thanks Swordfish!" he hopped on and they went through. As soon as the portal's walls disappeared Hunter activated the beacon and blocked the signal. They arrived in a medical wing of sorts, the biggest Asher's ever seen, and Hunter gave a worried feel when he spotted more machines laid out on tables. Their optics weren't lit up so Asher assumed they weren't awake, he was more surprised to find human children sitting with the three that were there. "They made friends or these are tiny spies like you told me existed in Earth’s history." Hunter pushed his amusement to his partner and Asher gave one in return.

 

"I'll begin the process Optimus but other than this you're the one who needs to be fixed up." Asher backed up before running forward and jumping off of Optimus’s servo to a tray to get a closer look at what Ratchet was doing. Said Autobot only glanced at him. Asher watched in rapt attention, Ratchet was typing away on the monitors before he moved to the large container and inserted the Energon crystals he collected.

"It's basically like a blood transfusion right?” Ratchet looked at Asher, question in his optics. "Well, when a person suffers from blood loss, or some type of trauma, a transfusion of blood is given so the body won't give out. This Energon substance to you is like blood to a human, lose too much and it could kill you, so you need to administer a transfusion to make sure they can recover from whatever happened to them right?" Ratchet seemed to have a sense of respect for the strange man before the monitors began to beep and his optics turned frantic.

"What's going on? Ratchet!" one of the humans called in alarm.

"Their sparks are going out," he said and began to administer the Energon but their vitals continued to fall.

"Give them a shot of adrenaline!" Ratchet continued to type, not stopping to even look at Asher.

"What in Cybertron's name will that do?"

"Adrenaline is usually used to give human's heart a boost so it will keep a good pace and not die, don't you have something similar for your kind?"

"We do but we don't have any, the Decepticons took the reserve months ago. They've been using it for explosives." Asher froze for a second before he whooped in success at the coincidence. Ratchet gave him a glare but Asher had Hunter give him one of the cores from the bombs.

"We disabled their bombs when Optimus was fighting, you're lucky we decided to keep them." Ratchet took the large vile, it was large in Asher's hands, and stuck it into the slot beside the Energon. Their vitals stabilized and both Asher and Ratchet sighed in relief. "Jeez...look we have four more so take them all." the last four appeared on the monitor next to Ratchet, who gazed at them questionably; they appeared out of nowhere on the desk. "It's not like we need it." he finally noticed the three humans staring at him so he did what any person in his position would do. "Hi I'm Asher-8, the strange but lovable guy who just saved your friends! Nice to meet ya!" he waved, out of all the things to do, he waved happily down at the three kids.

"Wait what?" the older male said in confusion and Asher had to let out a laugh at the way his face scrunched to show it.

"This guy looks totally cool!" the female of the group said with a big grin on her face. "Is he our new agent person you were talking about before?" Ratchet gave the  
girl a disapproving look, obviously she wasn’t supposed to know about that conversation.

"Miko..." the confused one said in exasperation.

"Miko sounds like a cool name, I've never heard anyone use that before." Asher commented as he stared down at them and Miko beamed at the Exo. "Rude much though? I introduced myself and all I get to hear is Miko and it wasn't even an introduction."

"I'm Rafael but everyone calls me Raf, thanks ya know? For saving our friends." Asher gave the boy a salute and looked over at Ratchet who walked over to start working on Optimus. "You know Miko now and that's Jack." Hunter gave a curious feel so Asher gave an amused one in return.

"You said your name was Asher-8, what’s the eight for?" Jack asked. If Asher could he would be grinning like maniac; instead though he jumped off the monitor and used his double jump to land safely. The three looked at him like he grew an extra head.

"I'm so glad you asked that young Jaqu." he said with an over dramatic wave of his hands, doing his best to imitate Locien’s accent.

"You're going to tell them you're an Exo aren't you?" Hunter said in an unimpressed voice.

"Well, seeing as I realized we may be stuck here for an extended amount of time, I think it's best we tell 'em. Gotta have trust right? That's what Ikora said at least...oh and Locien." Miko was giving him a look as if saying, you're-crazy-but-I'm-not-sure-if-I-hate-it. "Oh right I said that out loud, my bad guys. I was answering my buddy, Hunter. He's my A.I. of sorts, he's in here." he pointed at his helmet covered head. "But anyway," he started before Hunter interrupted.

"You're going to end up making everyone think you’re crazy, well insane. You're already crazy."

"Dammit there's that sass again! Don't sass me while I'm trying to communicate with human children!" Miko snorted a laugh. "Anyway back to what I was saying...My name is Asher-8 because I was named that way when I was forged. Simple as that really." They just stared and Hunter gave a mental sigh, sometimes Asher really didn’t think before he talked.

"Wow, we haven't been here more than ten minutes and you've already made a complete and utter fool of yourself." Asher gave a mental poke to his partner.

"Why don't you come out here and sass to my face...Little Light." Hunter sent him an annoyed push and Asher laughed. "I don't know what that portal jump did to you but I don't remember you being this sassy Hunter...wait, never mind you were always this sassy. Cayde always had a ball with you talking back to Locien." Ratchet gave an aggravated sigh, why do they always act like children? Asher glanced back at the Medic. "Sorry sir, I'll get right to the point then." His voice lost all playfulness, the change was quick. "My name is Asher-8, I am a Guardian born from the Traveler's light to fight the darkness plaguing our world. More specifically," he pulled his hood down and Hunter made his helmet disappear. "I am an Exo, a robotic life-form created by humans during the Golden Age, at least I think it was humans." Ratchet paused in what he was doing, everyone stared at the man...the Exo. "Look, how about I start from the beginning?"

Raf looked back to the ‘bots in recharge before he sat on the floor near the Exo, Ratchet had said the three Autobots were stable for the time being. "I think that would be better, you did say you were stuck here." Jack and Miko followed suit and sat around the Exo who in turn sat cross-legged in front of them.

"Well to be honest...Hunter is the one who was there since the Traveler saved us so I'll let him tell you the story of the collapse." Hunter gave him an exasperated nudge before Asher held out his hand and Hunter appeared over it. The three stared in wonder at the little machine like being that appeared from a blue light to hover in Asher's hand.

"Hello, I am Hunter. I am a Ghost, born from the Traveler's light before he went quiet but I came after so let's start at the beginning." He settled on Asher's hand as said Exo held him on his lap. "The humans found the traveler when they were on the Moon. From there, the Traveler gave them knowledge and humans prospered under his light. With it, Venus and Mars became habitable. Humans spread across the planets, they created new things and many took to the stars and changed into the Awoken. Beings that were human but had adapted to space, this time in their history was called the Golden Age. However...it didn't last." Asher closed his optics. "The Traveler had an enemy, the Darkness. It followed the Traveler across the cosmos and it found us too." Raf glanced at Asher, the Exo seemed to be preparing himself for something.

"Humans fought for their survival but even with all their technological advances, even with the Awoken and Exos...it wasn't enough. Humans, Awoken and Exos even were on the brink of extinction." The three teen's eyes got wide in shock, Asher dropped quite the bomb. More like nuclear missile, really.

"The Traveler made its last stand, it protected what was left of them. With its last bout of strength it created us, the Ghosts. The Darkness was pushed back, those remaining built a city, The Last City...location Earth." Hunter felt a nudge of sadness form his Guardian so he sent a comforting warmth to him. "It took one thousand years to build and now...well now we're counting every day it stands."

Everyone was silent, Ratchet's tinkering was the only noise in the room. They didn't know what to say, how would you respond if you knew that there's a chance the humans would be driven to the brink of extinction in their future but Asher reassured them with his and Hunter’s suspicions. "You shouldn't worry about your humans," Asher directed at Prime, he could feel the wheels turning in the ‘bot’s head. "There's is no record of you mechanized life-forms in our Earth's history, you never existed to us but you do here. Where we come from is completely different from this timeline." He opened his optics and the three teens got the feeling he was smiling reassuringly. "The Ghosts were created from the Travelers light before it went dormant."

"We searched through the planets, trying to find our Guardian. We bring them back with our light...you see, the Darkness was coming back. The Guardians were our last line of defense against it, against the Fallen that made their homes on the Earth, the Moon, and on Venus. The Speaker told us we wouldn't have survived a second wave from the Darkness but luckily we didn't have to endure for long. One Guardian, with the help of her team, found a way to end it. She fought through the Fallen, she found a way to defeat it at its heart. What stood before her and the Ravager team were the Vex. Mechanized beings "...evil so dark it despises other evils," that's what she had said. They found a way into the Black Garden, where the heart was located, but when the time came only she was let in. She alone stood against the Heart of Evil and its Vex creations. She defeated it but she never returned from the Garden Spire, all that was left of her was her Ghost...void of all light." Hunter hovered over to Prime and Ratchet, scanning the work Ratchet was doing so he could be of better use. Asher knew his Ghost wanted to keep the possible idea that Vex tech could open a rift here, he wasn’t saying too much detail of their story...but then again he was grateful. He missed her.

"Is that the end? You defeated the Darkness?" Miko asked, she was enthralled by the story. Always a big fan of the hero winning against evil to save humanity.

"We defeated one darkness, but there was more." Asher looked down at his hands for a moment, his mind going through his inventory to find his portable holo memory. "Eris Morn came to us, she sought revenge against the Hive. They went into the Dark Below on the Moon, they thought they were ready but they were wrong. She told us she saw what the Hive considered a God...his name was Crota son of Oryx, the Taken King." A device appeared in the middle of their little circle, Asher could feel the disapproval from Hunter but they needed to know and the Ghost knew it. The device lit up and footage of the Hive appeared, Jack flinched back and Raf scooted closer to Miko who unconsciously wrapped an arm around him as she gazed at the monsters in strange interest. "She lost everyone," Eris appeared. "They took her eyes so she took three. She spent years in the Dark Below, using the shadows as they did until she got out. The Ravagers fought, they had four but with Ariel gone they had three. They thought it was enough, they almost died when they faced one of Crota's generals, an army backing up the Knight. Eris sent us after them, my team and I found them in time." A feed of the team surrounded appeared, "Imara didn't think we'd be able to help but I wasn't going to abandon them. Not when I knew we could at least save one." The video played, a man jumped into the air; a blue aura surrounding him before he slammed into the ground. A wave of energy blasted the Hive, a woman followed up. She floated in the air for a moment before swinging her hand and three purple orbs shot to the remaining group standing between them and the Ravagers.

The knight roared, "Anger issues much? Hunter make sure to keep a record, we need to convince the Ravagers to team up." with that Asher jumped down, shooting as he did. The feed cut off.

"We became one unit, Laura was angry of course but she knew they couldn't do it alone. We wouldn’t let them become lost the Tower. We made progress, when we finally got Crota's attention we managed to drive him away but he was not dead. We went further into the Dark Below, we found Crota and put an end to him." A flash of Crota before he disappeared with an ear splitting scream. The three flinched away and Asher quickly changed the scene. A woman appeared in the next scene, her skin blue and her hair white, two creatures flanking her. Another man stood to her right, a scowl was set into his features. A woman stood to the left of the man, as if both were the first line of defense for the woman on the throne. "This is Mara Sov, Queen of the Awoken on the Reef, this is her brother Prince Uldren, and Lady Moira a shieldmaiden. The two creatures beside the Queen are called Fallen, specifically they were a apart of the House of Wolves. Long ago, the Fallen House of Wolves tried to take over the Reef, a war broke out between the Awoken and the Wolves but Queen Mara rose above them. She defeated the previous Kell, a leader, and became their Queen. So she gave them a home as long as they recognized her as they should, a Queen to them and the Awoken. The peace lasted a long while before Skolas committed mutiny and killed her people. He became the new House of Wolves Kell. The Ravagers owed the Queen for her help in finding the Black Garden when Ariel had still been alive," as he spoke the images changed to match what he was saying. "They owed us their lives, in exchange for their debt we took on Skolas and they fought the Wolf Scouts and Generals that would have gotten in our way. A strange way to clear their debt but there was nothing else we wanted, my team and I despised the Fallen...perhaps more than we should have." a man appeared in the next scene, he was holding someone in his arms before he tilted his head back and let out a cry. “Prince Locien of the Reef wanted to help us but the Queen forbid it.”

“Why?” Asher was surprised it was Jack that asked. He was sure it would have been Miko, especially since Hunte played that scene when Asher was just going to skip over it.

“Lady Moira wasn’t killed in the initial attack, they took her prisoner.” It changed to the final battle between Asher's team and Skolas, Asher mentally dared the Ghost to return to the subject and thankfully the three kids noticed his how short his answer was. They looked back to the hologram, the Kell was bigger than the three thought. "We worked with the Reef to find the traitorous Wolf and his associates. In the end the Queen did not want him dead, she wanted him captured. It made things more difficult but we managed it even though he was using...well he had certain tech to transport the entire House of Wolves to his location.” The Kell was shown on his knees as he was transmatted onto Prince Uldren’s ship. “We had a couple of years of what the city would call peace, the Ravagers team had pledged their services to the Queen. This made an alliance between us, the City and the Reef. Then all that was left was to clear the remaining traitors and our fight went back to protecting the city." a picture of the Tower appeared, they gazed the beautiful sight. Leaves blew on the wind and the banners scattered around did as well. The image was turned to find Asher, his stance was tense. The girl's face was that of horror and the man looked as if he was going to be sick.

"You thought it was over." Jack said, his face showing concern. A glance back to the Autobots and he saw Hunter had been projecting what he was. Sneaky little light.

"It seems our struggle is never over, we hadn't seen the last of the Hive. A Dreadnought had appeared in our solar system, Oryx had come. The Ravager team was summoned by the Queen, they and the Awoken stood against the wrath of the Taken King but they underestimated him. The Dreadnought did not fall..." A feed showed the aftermath of the fight, debris floated everywhere, Awoken bodies floated in space before it cut off. Asher scowled at his Ghost who continued to show the aftermath to the two bots.

"Your friends died..." Miko said in a whisper. She and Raf were now moving closer to Jack, the younger looked horrified and Asher began regretting telling their life to them.

"Yes," he answered. “We had been dealing with a disturbance deep inside Venus, we did not learn of their deaths until we resurfaced. Prince Uldred and his Crows, along with Laura and her team, managed to take out a large portion of the King’s fleet. The weapon that killed the others, killed the remaining Hive that did not make their retreat.” Another video, Asher's teammates were yelling at him and another Exo. After a moment he spoke, "Cayde had a plan.” he said as he identified the other Exo. “We needed to get aboard that ship. If that weapon wasn't disabled all it would take is one hit and the City would be gone. Imara and Dren did not deem the plan stable, they would not help us so I made them swear to secrecy. They did but I was alone, Cayde could not leave his place in the Vanguard; after I managed to disable their weapon with little casualty and established a transmat zone so other Guardians could land on the Dreadnought without trouble."

"Wait your team left you alone? They abandoned you?" Miko yelled in disbelief.

"I don't blame them, what Cayde and I did we did behind the back of the Vanguard. It was a suicide mission, if they had agreed to come I would have left them behind when I flew to the Dreadnought; had they come I guarantee the Dreadnought's weapon would have killed some of them or one of us." A portal came into view, Asher and his team stood before it along with three others. "I couldn't convince them to stay back when the time came to face Oryx, we went through the gate but I ended up here instead." The device disappeared and Asher sighed. "That's my story...well our story." Hunter hovered over and landed on Asher's head. "Any questions?" he said, his cheerful demeanor returning but the three teens were silent.

"I think we might have broken them Asher." Asher gave a dramatic gasp.

"No! They would have made awesome cuddle buddies!" that caused a laugh out of Raf then Miko and Asher beamed at the two. "See they think I'm funny!"

"Probably because you’re crazy like Miko." Jack muttered. Asher pointed at Jack who blinked at him.

"Careful your sassiness is showing...Wait! You and Hunter will get along just fine!" Miko was laughing so hard she started crying. "No! Miko is dying!" He grabbed her shoulders and shook her playfully. "Breath my young squishy friend! Breathe I say!" when he let go she rolled around the floor laughing and Raf ended up right next to her while Jack sported a grin and a chuckle. "Well my work here is done." Asher said in satisfaction while Hunter sent him a feeling of exasperated fondness.

"Well enough with the heavy stuff, it's getting late and mom is expecting me home today. You'll let us know if they wake up right Ratchet?" Ratchet waved them off and Jack dragged them towards the exit.

"Are you sure it’s safe for your three to be walking around at night?" Asher asked as he too stood up.

"We usually have our own escorts but...they need their rest." Raf answered. Asher glanced over to the three slumbering bots.

Optimus tried to stand but he groaned and fell back. Asher’s red optics blinked over to him before he got up to follow the trio out. "I can walk you guys, then I'll just speed my way back here on my sparrow."

"We'll be fine Asher." Miko butt in. Jack had already informed his mother they would have to walk back from the base and that would take a pretty long time. “Jack’s mom said she’d meet us halfway fi she got out of work early enough.”

"Look we're not stupid alright? I'm pretty sure those...evil peeps know all about you since your friends with them." he motioned to the bots behind him. "I took down some big ol' hunk of junk back at the Energon mine, I'm pretty sure I can take whatever comes next. Besides I can turn invisible so it'll look like it’s just you three walking like friends. And also I wanted to tell you guys about the time I scared the scheisse out of Imara with..." and his voice faded when they went up the elevator.

"Now that Asher is gone, I can answer all your questions properly." Ratchet and Prime nodded at the small machine in gratitude.


	2. What Am I Left With?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "If this is too hard on you, we don't have to talk about it." Asher slowly lowered his arms and turned to Jack. His red optics blinked back at Jack before they closed. He trudged over to Jack and rest his head on the teen's shoulder with a deep sigh. "Uh...Asher? Are you alright?"
> 
> "No...I'm not. It's just sinking in that I'll have to be living like your friends, that everything I knew is gone, everyone that became my family...I'll never see them again. I remember what and who I was before I died the first time. I remember getting friends and having someone to protect. I lost them all once, I gained new friends and a family, more people to protect and now I've lost them all over again." Asher stepped back and started pacing angrily. "What the hell am I supposed to do? I'm a Guardian damn far from home! This Earth has humans who've never seen into the Darkness, who haven't seen the Traveler's light, they haven't expanded! Venus, Mars, and heck the Moon are all desolate! Everything I know is gone, it's just a memory!" He turned to Jack. "Who the hell am I supposed to be?" he yelled out, frustration clear in his robotic voice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we are again, Chapter 2 of the crossover. 
> 
> Uh...so obviously I don't own nor claim to own any of Hasbro's Transformers or Bungie's Destiny video game/storyline. 
> 
> Once more, please be gentle and excuse me grammar haha.

   "And that my dear fleshies is how the Vector team got out of that situation." Asher's voice was smug and full of amusement.  "Dren was suuuuper pissed that I switched the blame to him!  His face," he made jazz hands as he swung his arms out.  "Priceless!" Miko and Raf were laughing at the Exo's antics and Jack was shaking his head but a smile was on his lips.

    "Hey Asher," the Exo turned his attention to the younger boy.  "You said you can turn invisible?" Asher grinned before gathering his light and disappeared.  They all stared at the place he was last at in awe.  "How are you doing that?"

    "It's my equipment," they jumped as the voice came from beside Miko.  "Back on our world it's called stealth tech, only Hunters have the compatible energy to continuously use it and have it on for an extended period of time otherwise the cloaking only lasts long enough to get to cover." he re-appeared beside Jack.

    "Wait...Hunters?  And how exactly does the technology work?" Raf asked with excitement in his eyes.

    "Nerd alert," Miko muttered and Jack sighed at her.

    Asher laughed and manually looked through his inventory.  The holoscreen that appeared before him seemed like something out of a movie.  "Let me just grab something aaaaaannnd...here ya go Raf." he handed over a small box like chip.  "Most Guardians that are reborn have their light manifest into a class.  There's Hunters, like me, Titans like Dren and Warlocks like Imara.  Each class has certain equipment that can handle the type of light energy they release.  Hunter's have this in theirs but waaaaayy more equipped.  Locien and Cayde actually helped develop a portable stealth drive to hide-." A clink had the Exo man turn, his hand resting on his side arm before turning back after determining it was nothing.  "Do you guys usually walk when your friends are busy?  It's pretty far and we've been walking for hours!" Miko followed his example and did the same dramatic pose of trying to catch his breath.

    "It's only been thirty minutes guys and don't worry I’m sure mom’s on her way here already." Just then a white sedan pulled up and a woman rolled down the window.

    "Are they alright Jack?" Jack nodded with a tired smile.  "Alright hop in, tomorrow's Saturday so I'll probably be able to drop you off." Asher stared at the women before looking at Jack and then continued to do this back and forth motion.  "Jack who is this?"

    "Well...it's a long story mom."

    "That's what a mom looks like?" Asher asked before striding forward and getting into her face.  The lady leaned away, "Wow...Holiday was right...moms do have a certain glow to them." His voice was in awe, he would always go down to the city but it was alway in the section where people migrated to get medical help after they wandered too far out of the city.  He’d never seen a mother before, only the kids running around trying to get a look at them.

    "I...Thank you?" Raf tapped his arm and Asher moved away to look at him.

    "That's Jack's mom, she knows about Bu-...the bots that are resting." Asher gave along oh in answer.  "Don't you have a mom?" Asher tilted his head before shaking it slowly.

    "Pretty sure that humans created us during the Golden Age does that count as having a mom or do you actually have to know them to have one?" The lady frowned in confusion while the three gave each other a glance.

    "Hold that thought," Jack went over to the car's window.  "His name's Asher, he's a new guy with Optimus.  He saved him and our friends." she nodded, suspicion in her eyes since Jack only told her the partial story.  Asher perked up, his hand on his sidearm before gently pushing Raf and Miko towards the car.

    "Alright if you guys are getting into the car do it now...I'm picking up something." Jack and the kids piled in right when Hunter appeared beside him.  "What've you got Hunt?" Asher climbed onto the roof and sat down as he turned invisible.  He could hear Jack explaining stuff to his mom before she took off.

    "I answered their questions, a few only since I needed to follow after you." Asher hummed, Hunter returned to his mind space.  "I've been picking up strange signals from close by.  I have yet to identify what signal is what in this Earth so I can know what is an enemy and what isn't." Asher nodded along before letting out a soft yawn.  He knows it’s a very Awoken/Human gesture but it stuck since he hardly needs to sleep until he's downright exhausted.  "I've told you to rest once in awhile, if you keep this up you'll crash and it will be the most pathetic death for a Guardian." Asher sighed.

    "Anything on the scanner?" Hunter brought up the scanner and it showed nothing so Asher turned off his cloaking and leaned down to look at Jack.  "You guys are clear, I gotta head back and get some rest.  Hunter won't stop nagging me." Hunter gave an offended feel.  "I'll see you guys tomorrow, bye Momma J!" He jumped off the moving car, Jack's mother hitting the brake and screeching to a stop at the action.  A vehicle appeared under Asher before he took off at top speed.  They all watched in silence, Miko was already thinking about a way to get Asher to let her ride that and Raf about how he keeps making things appear out of nowhere.  Jack however noticed his mother’s stare boring into his back.

    "You've got some explaining to do Jack, big time."

 

    Asher made it back to the compound in one ultimate piece, this thought was found amusing by Hunter, and as soon as he was inside Ratchet was staring down at him.  "Heya there Ratchet, sir." Asher waved for a while before he stopped and let out a sigh.  "Can this wait until tomorrow I need to rest before I crash from my streak of being awake?" Ratchet pointed to the couch brought in for the humans.

    "Thank you for your kindness." Hunter said when he appeared.

    "How long have you been without recharging?"

    "I don't know, six...twenty, 40 days?"

    "20 Asher, you need to rest so our light can recharge and your systems don’t overwork themselves." Asher shrugged and hopped onto the couch.  "I will wake you when morning comes." Asher gave a thumbs up before his optics closed, Hunter left his helmet on just in case something happened and they needed to move.

    "Asher wake up," said Exo groaned and turned but ended up falling on the floor.  He sat up quickly and drew his sidearm. 

     "Who dat?" he turned his head left and right but yawned when he saw Hunter.  "Dammit..." he holstered the gun.  "What's up Hunt?"

    "The three Autobots have woken up, Optimus asked me to retell our story while you slept.  They now wish to ask you questions before the three children get here." Asher groaned and stood up with a stretch.  He wondered how early it was.

    "Alright, ask away then!" he said joyfully as he turned to the bots standing behind him, he bypassed them in his sleep addled brain.

    "If you're able to somehow be transferred here then is it possible for this...King to come through as well?" 

    "In all honesty bluebell?  There's a possibility, both the Fallen and Cabal are all beings lured here by the darkness that followed the Traveler centuries ago in my time.  Either they don't exist or they haven't left their home, either way it's less likely that they'll appear here because of that.  The Traveler hasn't appeared and in what recorded history we have it appeared a year ago from this world’s time." Hunter hovered beside his partner at the explanation, providing support.  The yellow bot beeped in question making Asher tilt his head.  "Didn't you see the part with Eris?" both he and the green bot shrugged while bluebell sighed.  Hunter projected the moon again, "We learned of the Hive when a Guardian was given the task to follow the trail of another Guardian who went dark some days before." Zavala appeared.  "To think our Vanguard sent one his newer Titans to find them." he shook his head at the the Commander’s plans.

    "Give us a background on this Vanguard, who are the Guardians exactly?  Are they the only humans alive among the Exos and Awoken?  Why is this Hive species such a cause for concern?" Asher looked at Hunter who gave the best impression of a shrug.  Bluebell sure was thorough in her questions, probably because Optimus and Ratchet already spoke with Hunter.

    "The Guardians, as I said before, are born from the Traveler's light that we Ghosts provide.  We search all over the solar system to find our partner.  The Guardians are the last line of defense against everything threatening the survival of the city.  Our Guardians are not the only humans alive, there are others among them that live in the city alongside some Awoken and Exos.  The Vanguard is made up of some of the oldest, more experienced Guardians in the tower.  Aside from the Speaker, they handle operations and missions the Guardians take and also provide equipment for said Guardians depending on what is brought to them.  Normally a Guardian cannot move without the approval of the Vanguard but many have had to make calls without it.  The Speaker is our direct line to the Traveler, it lost its voice after saving the remaining people left.  He speaks for it, he guides us from the echoed whispers of the sleeping being." Asher lowered his hood and his helmet disappeared.  They seemed unaffected by Asher’s appearance.

    "The Tower is home to the Guardians, it's where we spend our free time when we have it and most of it, for Awoken and Humans, is spent resting.  For some they go down to explore the city but it’s very rare."

    "Why?" Asher has officially dubbed him Big Green.

    "When a Guardian does go we try to blend into the crowd but almost always the people seem to notice who and what we are."

    "They fear their protectors?  Typical human behavior." Asher shook his head at Ratchet, the Mech having finally come into the room.

    "They do not fear us, they worship us as children of the Traveler.  They swarm around us, asking us to bless them and to continue to fight for them.  Hell they pray to us when they shouldn't!"  More beeps came from the yellow bot.  "It's because Guardians were brought back with the light the Traveler provided from the Ghosts.  They literally see us as children of their savior and it's...well it's damn unnerving how some of them take it to heart.  Some welcome us as the soldiers we are.  Some Guardians have let that get to their head and they use it to buy certain goods for cheaper but over time that notion was snuffed out, The Speaker spoke to us once.  It was four months after I was reborn...he said that we weren't Gods, that, although we were born from the Traveler's light, we shouldn't abuse it.  We can die, we will die either in the war or of old age." The Speaker appeared before the mounds of Guardians standing in the square, some standing on the roof of a building.  "The Speaker said, “Do not doubt you are born from the light of the Traveler, for you are.  His children you might be but that should not lead you to believe that you are above the people living in the city below.  The light has changed you yes, it has given you power to fight for our survival and has extended your life but that does not mean you will not grow, there is always a possibility of falling out there.  Though we all hope it will never happen, it will and it has in the past.  You are not Gods, you are not invincible.  You are a beacon of hope, a Light in the Darkness plaguing this world; do not take it for naught." He woke up a lot of Guardians that day."

    "Were you one of them?" Asher just laughed at Ratchet's question, Hunter took it upon himself to answer.

    "Asher was never the type to take things of worship seriously, he often took medicine and such to the city.  As advanced as we were from the Golden Age many of the equipment failed at times and needed to be fixed."

    "That was my job back before I was a Guardian, unlike others I remembered who I was before the fall.  I used what time I had to myself to help in the city." Asher shrugged.  "If I could help other than just fighting then I would, it's how I met Imara and Dren.  We all thought the same, they remembered what they were not who.  Imara was a doctor and surgeon, a damn good one according to medical records.  Dren was a bit trickier, he was a standby emergency rescue.  He had basic medical training but he mostly took to counselling, there were people who needed that."

    "Hunter said that the city was living that way for centuries, why exactly would they need counseling if they’ve lived as such for so long?" Asher snorted at Bluebell's ignorance.

    "Let me ask ya something Bluebell," she scrunched her face at the name.  "When you return from war you bring back whatever you see, when you can't fight any more you tell stories, you talk to others to figure out what you’re supposed to do now and while talking there are others around to hear your tale.  So here's the question, if you fought a war that outlived you; if you managed home alive and told your tale, would you do it to help yourself or scare the others out of spite because they didn't fight, tell me what would have been your reason?" she stayed quiet, her eyes narrowed.  "When I first woke up I had to go out and fight, I had no training and no idea how to handle a gun properly.  I was unlucky, the Cabal were warriors who had taken over Mars.  That's where Hunter found me, I was reborn there.”

   “Mars was the last place I searched.” Hunter added in.

   “On a planet so secured by the heavily armored, 8 feet, 600+ pound space turtles that I was stuck hiding away like Eris did on the Moon until Draco went through their Exclusion Zone and I managed a ride out of there with Prince Uldren.  I was stuck there for weeks, scavenging for food and water and killing beings 4 times my weight.  It helped that I found a sniper rifle, their helmets are surprisingly not as great as their body armor, if hit correctly at least.” He paused and took a breath.  “We don’t know each other’s story once we reach the tower, mine spread because it was the Reef that helped me out and that was only because I took out the majority of the Cabal trying to kill an injured man.  I was lucky but most born on Mars are not, I learned that the Tower and the City avoided Mars like the plague.  We were fighting on both fronts, a war with the Cabal would have drowned us but we didn’t have a choice.”

   “The Speaker told us the Darkness was almost upon us, he said that once upon a time they told stories to frighten the children, that lately the stories had stopped but…” Hunter’s shell shifted nervously.

   Asher sighed, “The children and everyone living behind the walls of the city were scared anyway.  Hunter was right, those before us built a wall to protect the city; we count every second we can buy the people living in it.” The bot he dubbed, Honey Bee, beeped for about a minute.  His mechanical hands doing all sorts of motions before be finished with a confused sound.

   “The Hive, Zavala found out how long they were hiding in the moon.  It turns out they were there before even the Traveler arrived.  It wasn’t until we began to expand did they fully awaken.  The Hive are a factor to be taken seriously, in this universe there’s a possibility they don’t exist because the Darkness and the Traveler have yet to be sighted but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be alert.  Just don’t go looking any deeper, that’s part of the reason they even started appearing.” Asher leaned against the rail as his partner finished his rant, Hunter took offense to calling it that.

   “The real problem I think is not the Hive from this place, if there are any, but from our Earth.  Hopefully they took care of Oryx completely but if it’s anything  like Crota...they’ll have to find where he ran.  If that’s not the case then I don’t think we have anything to worry about.  The only being to figure out how the rift works would be Oryx himself, he is the one to create that security…at least I think he did.” Asher shrugged.  “Anywho, the only way I think I’ll get home is by opening another rift like that.”

   “Like a space bridge.” Ratchet input.

   “The only problem with that is that it’s like a doorway and as Locien says, “a doorway opens from both sides” so there’s the risk of letting any type of Hive and Taken creatures back this way.” Hunter said, mostly to Ratchet.

   “And that is a risk we cannot take.” The bots looked back to Asher.

   “Why not?  If it means getting you home, why not do it?”

   “We just listed all the reasons Big Green.” Asher sing-songed.

   “Whatever comes through that door we can handle it!  If they’re as small as the humans then they’ll be a piece of energon cake.  We’ve fought bigger things.” Asher laughed at his enthusiasm before he looked down and grew silent.  This caused the three to tense at the change in the air.

   “When Hunter and I went to Earth to retrieve Cayde’s stealth drive, we fought Taken creatures and the Fallen.  Our biggest threat wasn’t the Fallen whose presence was a constant in our war it was the creatures Oryx created.  Hunter saw the Fallen when they first arrived on Earth.  It took them months to gain control of it and the Taken did it in a few hours.” Asher shook his head, he couldn’t even think about what the damage would be if they came here.  “If it hadn’t been for Hunter I would be buried ten feet under or worse…I would have become one of Oryx’s servants, fighting to fulfill his will.”

   “Oryx doesn’t kill those he captures, he takes them.  He makes them bend to his will, with that type of power, he gains an army overnight.  The Taken King is feared for a reason, we only hoped that Eris had told us of him sooner.” Hunter disappeared.

   “There’s a reason I wasn’t afraid of fighting one of those bots.  There are Fallen Archon Generals, Cabal leaders and Hive Knights both normal and some Taken that are probably about the size of Blubell.” Asher stood up straight.  “I can’t risk this universe, you Autobots and much less the Decepticons.  If Oryx were to get his claws on you…This place wouldn’t stand a chance.  There’s no argument and no discussion over it.  I’m never going home.  Guardians are born to protect civilization and if staying in this place does that then I will gladly do so.” The elevator doors opened, Jack, Miko and Raf appeared; laughing at something Miko said.  Just like that the conversation was over and each human teen was glad to see their friend up and about.

**LINEBREAKLINEBREAKLINEBREAKLINELINEBREAKLINEBREAKLINEBREAKLINELINEBREAKLINEBREAKLINEBREAKLINELINEBREAKLINEBREAKLINEBREAKLINELINEBREAKLINEBREAKLINEBREAKLINELINEBREAKLINEBREAKLINEBREAKLINE**

   "Are you kidding me?  Tell me you're not pulling my leg Hunter!" Hunter sent his partner an amused feel in return.  Asher jumped into the air, his fist pumped up as he yelled, “Yes!  So then we can go out and explore the universe?  Sweet!" Asher jumped off the platform and started running towards the elevator but Optimus picked up the man with one digit before he could get out.  "Hey, let me down Swordfish!  I wanna see the worlds in their primes!"

   "And what worlds would that be Asher-8?  You've stated before that this Earth is not your own and in turn this system is not as well." Asher slumped in the Autobot leader's hold.  "Earth is not as you remember, the humans here have no idea that we are living among them."

   "Then how are the Decepticons still hidden?" he grumbled out.

   "They have a cloaking device hiding their ship as well as their life signs, certain humans know of us because of them." Ratchet looked to the children talking to their partners.

   "Hmm..." Asher got comfortable in Optimus' grip.  "Can a cloaking device be installed in my ship?"

   "I could make a device from scratch," Asher perked up.  "But even then we would still be missing the core." He slumped back into the hold, letting his arms and legs dangle from Optimus' digit.

   "For now it is best you do not leave the base, I'm sure there is much we can show you here." Asher groaned, letting the Prime transfer him to his open servo.  "You will need a room to recharge, it may be best to share." Hunter sighed at the mental grin his partner held.

   "Hey I don't mind sharing as long as I get to share with you hot stuff." The room went quiet, the silence seeming to stretch on for miles upon miles before Miko burst out laughing with her partner.  Asher looked up to Optimus and found the Cybertronian looking anywhere but at Asher.  The Exo burst out laughing, rolling around on the autobot's servo.  "Your face!  Oh my Ghost, priceless!  Sorry Swordfish but it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up!" Asher rolled off and yelped in surprise.  Optimus caught him and Asher coughed into his hand in embarrassment.

   "You must be careful Asher-8, such a height can offline your spark." Asher rolled off the servo and used his boosters to help him land safely.

   "But I won't die see?  I'm a survivor; is what it is, we Guardians are made of sturdier stuff." he declared as he bumped a fist to his chest.  Optimus sighed before turning to his friends.  "Awww, Hunter Mr. Swordfish is ignoring me!" Hunter sent his partner a comforting warmth and Asher sighed before turning to walk down a large hall.  Another sigh from Optimus as he watched the Exo walk off with a different, more darker aura surrounding him.  Jack looked to his partner who nodded, he jogged after the Exo with a wave to the others.  He caught up and Asher only nodded at him.

   "I don't think he's okay you guys." Raf commented and his partner agreed with a series of beeps.  "Yeah he seems...sad."

   "Why would he be sad?  He's a pretty awesome guy with all these high tech gadgets and super powers!" Big green hummed in thought as he looked from Miko to where Asher and Jack disappeared to.

   "If there was a way to get back home but I couldn't I'd be down in the scrap heaps too." Bluebell added in.

   "He can't go home?" Raf asked.

   "I thought he was only stuck here for a bit?" Miko added after.

   The two Autobots looked at one another before Bluebell answered, "He said it's a risk he won't take.  If he opens a rift to get back there's a chance those things can come through when he goes in."

   "So you can't go home at all?" Asher nodded.  "Won't they need you?"

   "My team can handle anything that comes after, besides...they had Locien with them and he was the one that Oryx wanted." Asher lowered his hood.  "I think, no I know Oryx has been defeated.  There was too much at stake to turn back, to not get the job done."

   "But why were you the only one who ended up here?" Hunter appeared in front of the duo, Jack jumped in surprise before he let a soft sigh.  "I mean how exactly did going through that gate you showed us get you here instead of to that guy?"

   "We tried going through the rift after Hunter and I established a transmat zone on the dreadnought, it rejected us and did not let us through." Asher stopped and faced Jack.  "Something else came through instead, a shadow of Oryx came and tried to kill us." Asher patted the teen's shoulder when a worried look passed over his face.  "Don't worry, we defeated it somehow but the question remained; how were we supposed to get to Oryx?  Eris told us, we needed to become our enemy." In a flash, taken armor covered Asher from head to toe and Jack took a step back, he looked...scary.  "Only ascendant Hive could pass through so we needed to find a way to become that." Hunter returned his previous armor and for that Jack was grateful.  Even Asher’s voice had changed, instead of the semi-deep voice with with a robotic tinge it was watery and rough.

   "Ascendant Hive?"

   "Those who had access to his throne like his son, Crota." Asher answered.

   "But you said you destroyed him."

   "Yes we did before he was able to return, there was a crystal that held his soul.  We needed to go back to the pits to get it, Eris said it was possible that it still held a whisper of his soul."

   "And did it?" Asher continued his trek.

   "It did not," Jack came up beside him, Hunter floating along on the other side.  "We took the crystal and went deeper into the dreadnought, they were preparing his soul in a ceremony.  That was our only chance to become ascendant; regardless of the dangers...we didn't have a choice.  We were lucky though, Locien volunteered to come with us, he and Cayde found a way to hide for an extended period of time, remember about that portable stealth drive I mentioned?  They and one of our shipwrights, Holiday, got it work.  By the time Vector and I returned to the tower, he had us all set to go back.  We managed to get close enough to absorb some of Crota's essence but they found us out.  We had to fight to survive and for a moment we thought it was over." Asher laughed some.  "Man, Dren started apologizing about all these random things thinking that was the end for us.  Ya know he even admitted to loving Imara when Eris' voice came through our com and she used a spell to teleport us out of that war zone." Asher started outright laughing, "Man was Imara pissed!  We didn't see Dren around for a while; turns out Imara was mad because it took the thought of permanent death to finally admit he loved her.  Sheesh, those two were always dancing around each other.  It started getting annoying after a while, Jim and I were always plotting, trying to get them to confess and when Imara asked him out to the city he took Norma with them!  Can you believe that guy?  Jeez, he never got the hint."

   "Uh..." Hunter hovered over to Jack.

   "It's his way of coping." the Ghost answered the confused teen.

   "Anyway, that crystal with his essence had an effect.  It changed our army and tried to corrupt us but with Eris' help it only got to our armor.  However...she warned me that the amount we managed to swipe at the ceremony wouldn't be enough to get more than a few people through the portal.  The important thing was to get Locien through, he was the one with enough Light to face Oryx."

   "So what?  You guys did something to make sure the "key" didn't apply to you?" A door opened and the two found themselves in an empty room.

   "Hunter and I made sure to absorb the least essence, we told Eris our part was over." Asher looked around before throwing his hands up, "Welcome to my new room Jack!" his voice returned to that childish delight.  Jack glanced at Hunter who let out a sigh.

   "If this is too hard on you, we don't have to talk about it." Asher slowly lowered his arms and turned to Jack.  His red optics blinked back at Jack before they closed.  He trudged over to Jack and rest his head on the teen's shoulder with a deep sigh.  "Uh...Asher?  Are you alright?"

   "No...I'm not.  It's just sinking in that I'll have to be living like your friends, that everything I knew is gone, everyone that became my family...I'll never see them again." Jack looked at Hunter but the Ghost had disappeared so he patted at the Exo's back.  "I remember what and who I was before I died the first time.  I remember getting friends and having someone to protect.  I lost them all once, I gained new friends and a family, more people to protect and now I've lost them all over again.  If I make friends here and I get to go back I'll lose those too and then what?  Is it better to be isolated from everyone?  I thought that at first but then I started telling you guys stories about my team, about our war, what we gained and what we lost and...I just don't think I have that option anymore." Asher stepped back and started pacing angrily.  "What the hell am I supposed to do?  I'm a Guardian damn far from home!  There's nothing to fight here, nothing for me to protect!  This Earth has humans who've never seen into the Darkness, who haven't seen the Traveler's light, they haven't expanded!  Venus, Mars, and heck the Moon are all desolate!  Everything I know is gone, it's just a memory!" He turned to Jack.  "Who the hell am I supposed to be?" he yelled out, frustration clear in his robotic voice.

   Jack didn't know what to say, what would he tell him in the first place?  That he has friends here?  That there are humans to protect here?  "I don't know what to say, how am I supposed to tell him anything when he's been through three different wars and is still worried about what he is?"  Jack shook his head and sighed, "You're a Guardian aren't you?  Yesterday when Miko, Raf and I left you didn't have to go with us but you did, why did you?"

   "Your partners are Autobots right?" Jack nodded.  "Then obviously the Decepticons know about you guys, you three on your own was a kidnapping waiting to happen.  I couldn't let that go down, not when I could protect you."

   "There you go, that's it right?" Asher blinked at Jack before his optics glowed brightly, he was a damn good counselor!

   "You're absolutely right Jack!  There are Decepticons here I need to protect humans from!  Hear that Hunter?  We're back in business buddy!" Asher started dancing around before whooping loudly and laughing.  "Thanks Jack, you're an awesome fleshie."

   "No problem, I'll let Optimus know you found a room for yourself." Jack started backing out of the room.  "And don't forget, you got us now.  Miko, Raf and I may not know about what you’re feeling but Optimus and the others?  The war destroyed their home and even now it's continuing here on Earth, they know and they can help." the door swished closed before it popped back open, "Oh yeah before I forget, Bluebell is Arcee, the yellow bot is Bumblebee and the green guy is Bulkhead." the door closed once again behind Jack and Hunter felt the warmth spreading through his partner's mind.

   "Right...Hey Hunt, they really are worth protecting aren't they?" said Ghost felt Asher's inner turmoil settle a bit and Hunter couldn't help but feel grateful to the young human.

   "Yes, they most certainly are."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I forgot to put this but I got my references from the Destiny and Bungie websites. DestinyWiki and of course Transformers Prime and the Bay movies. 
> 
> So yeah, I don't own these awesome things.


	3. The First Death

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Mother of-! Damn piece of-! Get in touch with Ratchet!" Another blast and he grunted when a stray rock hit his left shoulder. Asher began to curse in the languages he spoke fluently, then in the old languages of his Earth before the Collapse. "Any time now Hunter!"
> 
> "Communications are down! They managed to duplicate what we did at the Energon site!"
> 
> "Are you fu-Scheisse!" another sharp turn, a mistake. Asher found himself in between the two vehicles, one a shiny red and the other a grey blue. "You've got to be-!" guns emerged from their headlights and aimed at the Exo. "Oh I'm so screwed!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So again, I got my references from the Destiny and Bungie websites. DestinyWiki and of course Transformers Prime and the Bay movies.
> 
> I don't own these awesome things.
> 
> also, I apologize to anyone who dislikes it, be gentle please. I'm a nervous wreck about this crossover and Loc is as well.  
> Please leave some Kudos!

"Guys!" Asher called as he ran inside the usual meeting hall but he found only Ratchet typing away on his holo-screen thing. The Exo slowed down, lowering the data pad he had in his hand. "Where is everyone?"  
"Optimus and the other Autobots have gone to retrieve energon from the mine you secured. The humans are at their learning facility." Asher tilted his head then jogged up the stairs to where the couch sat. He had just finished reading the information Ratchet and Optimus gave him about them and their war with the Decepticons and had just started on Earth’s history.  
"Hm, they never went back? It’s been two days already...so, when do the fleshies come back?"  
"In human time, four hours from now."  
"I was hoping to ask more about how the humans live and how they are but anyway; is there anyway I can help around here since there's not much else for me to do?" Ratchet was about to answer but Optimus' voice came through the comm.  
"Ratchet, open a ground bridge; we have the energon." said medic did so and Asher grew even more confused at the action.  
"Didn't Hunter make it so that a ground bridge couldn't be opened near the mine?" The Autobots came in one by one with cubes of blue energy. Hunter appeared beside Optimus as he came through and Asher gave a long 'Oh' in realization. "Been busy while I was reading huh?"  
"Hunter was kind enough to assist us, he asked that you not be disturbed while you read the history of this world." Asher nodded to Optimus. Arcee put down her load and sighed.  
"The mine was barely enough to raise our stock by a little but it's something at least." Asher perked up and Hunter returned to his side. "Optimus says we have you to thank for that." the Exo shrugged as if saying it wasn't a problem. He placed the data pad on the wooden table and stretched fully knowing it was a human habit.  
"I need a drive, can you open a bridge for me please?" Asher walked down the stairs and shooed Bumblebee out of the way, he did so with a questioning beep.  
"I'm opening to a more...deserted area." Asher gave a thumbs up as the portal opened.  
"This little guy has an alt mode too?" Bulkhead asked. Bumblebee beeped again in answer but Hunter put armor on Asher who took some steps back.  
"Nah nothing like that big guy," he broke into a run before jumping up enough that as he went down Hunter summoned up their sparrow and he landed on it, hitting the accelerator so that it hovered above the ground before it took off. "I'll comm when I'm ready to head back, see ya metal gang!" Ratchet looked to Optimus looked to the energon they brought in.  
"We know he can handle himself, old friend." Ratchet looked at Arcee who nodded once and went after the Exo.  
"Regardless, he still needs to be watched Optimus. His stories are questionable, not for anyone's safety but for his."  
"What do you mean Doc?" Bee gave a questioning beep when Bulkhead asked.  
"He's lost everything he's known and unlike us, he has a way to return now but he cannot nor will he be able to in the future." he sighed, turning to the screen as he did. With Hunter's help he acquired his and Asher's unique life signature. "If what I was told is true he is a restless bot. He may have found a reason to continue on but he's also used to moving in and out without a second thought. If he sees a problem or if what information he acquires he sees as a task he will do it without asking us for permission." Optimus gave a hum and commed Arcee.  
"Keep an eye on him Arcee; our new friend may require our support until he has healed."  
"I will Optimus." the com shut off.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Asher was uncharacteristically silent and that unnerved Hunter. The Exo sped through the canyon, speeding off higher ledges and doing the flips and tricks that he, Dren and even Imara had done when they found a reprieve on patrol. Hunter began to worry as his flips and jumps became more and more reckless, he knew Asher has done this many times with Imara and Dre but still.  
"Asher slow down, you'll hurt yourself." Asher pushed anger into Hunter who shut Arcee out of their communications line in response. On the last jump, the ledge was a high enough cliff that Arcee sped up and transformed; a servo extended out to try and catch him but Asher spun on the sparrow before straightening out. He and the sparrow a few inches apart.  
"Asher!" Hunter yelled into his head. Asher opened his closed optics and felt a slight thrill as well as fear.  
"Shit!" He reached for the sparrow, intent on softening the landing when his cloak was caught by Arcee and he hung there like a mother cat holding her kitten by the scruff of his neck. He watched his Sparrow fall, it disappeared before hitting the ground. "Dammit, I had it!"  
"Had what? A death wish? What in Primus' name were you thinking?" She lifted him up so they were optics to optics.  
"I've done it billions of times Bluebell! I would have made it!" Her optics narrowed, lowering him to the ground enough before tossing him a slight ways. He rolled instinctively before going in a crouch. "What the hell Arcee!" his voice took on a more dangerous edge.  
"Have you even thought about the possibility that your team will come for you?" that shut him up. "What would they think if they knew you intentionally did something stupid and got yourself offline by it? How do you think they would feel? They would have come all this way to get you only to find you already dead?" Asher felt anger rush through him and he stood up, ignoring Hunter trying to calm him down.  
"You don't get it do you? They can't come for me, not unless they look into the darkness that made us come here in the first place! Our hand was forced before but if we willingly turned to the darkness we wouldn't be any better than our enemies!" Hunter grew worried, his arc-light was acting up. It always did when he grew emotional, especially when someone was in deep trouble. "If you're worried about me dying don't; it's not like I'll stay dead anyway." the energy crackling around him began to settle. "Do yourself a favor and don't follow us, we'll come back when we're ready."  
"I can't do that Asher-8, you think I'm going to leave you alone after that stunt you pulled? Either I ride with you or we head back to base."  
Asher burst out laughing, "It's funny how you think I was asking permission." Asher went invisible, and Arcee quickly made to snatch at the last place he was standing but her servo came up empty. She used her scanners but she couldn't see him at all.  
"Scrap!" she cursed, she commed Ratchet. "Asher-8’s gone. He used his cloaking device to get away."  
"Leave him be then," Ratchet sighed into the com. "He will contact us when he is ready, I'm opening a ground bridge to you. Return to base Arcee." the femme took one last look around as the ground bridge opened before she sighed and turned to walk inside. Asher watched her disappear and he grumbled under his breath. Hunter sent out a soothing warmth into his mind and Asher took the small comfort his Ghost provided. As soon as his partner brought out the sparrow he jumped on and sped away.  
"I know it was stupid to do but it's not like I'll stay dead, besides you know I've been trying to perfect that trick." Hunter was silent and Asher knew his friend was giving him the chance to actually take his stupidity into account so he sighed, "I won't do anything stupid like that again unless I don't have a choice like back on our Earth. I know you won't answer me for a good while and I honestly don't blame you but...just know that I'll fight my way through, like I always do." He drove around for about three hours before a ground bridge opened up behind him as he sped by. He stopped and let his sparrow hover as he turned to face the portal. "Time to face the music huh partner?" Hunter was still silent but Asher could feel the nervousness coming from him; he did not understand why but when red appeared on his visor's tracker he too began to feel it.  
"Four coming through, not friendlies; Asher go!" Asher turned his sparrow and quickly hit the thrusters, his nervousness turning to out right panic. Why the hell are the sending four to his location? Two vehicles sped out of the ground bridge and two airborne ones, the red on his tracker letting him know he wasn't getting any farther from them. "Ratchet allowed me access to his database regarding the Decepticons, it seems like we have the Second named Starscream, Surveillance/Third named Soundwave, Medic named Knockout and his Assistant named Breakdown on our tail. You can probably keep ahead of their vehicles but not the airborne seekers." Asher cursed quite colorfully. "Incoming!" Asher took a sharp turn, the blast decimating a rock wall.  
"Mother of-! Damn piece of-! Get in touch with Ratchet!" Another blast and he grunted when a stray rock hit his left shoulder. Asher began to curse in the languages he spoke fluently, then in the old languages of his Earth before the Collapse. "Any time now Hunter!"  
"Communications are down! They managed to duplicate what we did at the Energon site!"  
"Are you fu-Scheisse!" another sharp turn, a mistake. Asher found himself in between the two vehicles, one a shiny red and the other a grey blue. "You've got to be-!" guns emerged from their headlights and aimed at the Exo. "Oh I'm so screwed!" he prepped himself and as the weapons charged, Asher jumped off his sparrow and used his double jump to try to soften his landing. He rolled, groaning as soon as he landed on his back. The two vehicles turned and drifted a ways off before stopping altogether. Asher looked at them from his position and decided to pretend he was unconscious, if he died Hunter could revive him when needed; there was no darkness here to stave off a revival.  
"Decrypting their coding, hang tight Asher." The airborne vehicles transformed and landed near the fallen Exo, the other two transforming and approached until Asher was laid out in between them all. "The code keeps changing, I found gaps but I cannot send out any voice messages or written message. I'm going to blast your life signal in each burst, we can only hope they'll see it and come find us."  
"You buffoons!" one yelled. "Lord Megatron wanted this one alive and unspoiled!" the other, a screen for a face, gave out a broadcast of a steady heartbeat.  
"He's only unconscious Starscream," the red mech answered. "Soundwave can still hear his heart; anyhow, at least he's alive."  
"That is Lord Starscream to you pawn!"  
"The red is Knockout, he is their medic. The grey/blue is Breakdown, he is the medic's assistant. The one with a screen for a face is Soundwave, he is their...well spymaster I suppose. He watches and hears everything...almost. The last one is Starscream, the second in command to their leader Megatron. He really sent out the big guns just to get you Asher." Asher gave a mental snort, trying in vain to hide his fear from his partner but it didn't work. "Use smoke grenade in three, two, one..." the grenade appeared in his hand, in a quick moment, Asher jumped into a crouch and threw it down. The smoke turned him invisible and he ran away as they all reached down to grab at him, all except Soundwave who turned his head in the same direction he ran.  
"Please tell me they're on their way!" Hunter didn't comment and Asher started counting down the seconds until the temporary smoke screen wore off. "10, 9, 8, 7, 6...whoa!" Asher was scooped up and held in a firm but gentle grip, he came face to face with Soundwave. "...3, 2, 1; how did you know?" Soundwave played back Asher's running steps and Asher groaned, his forehead thumping down on Soundwave's digit.  
"Good work Soundwave," Knockout commented as he sauntered over. "Do yourself a favor fleshie, remove your helmet."  
"Considering you made me jump off a moving vehicle? I don't think so, besides I'm already breaking a rule by talking to you." Asher looked up at them before waving his loose arm around wildly. "Stranger danger! I knew I should have listened to Imara! Don't talk to strangers, she said; they'll kidnap you and we'll have to save you, she said. By the Traveler I should have listened to her. And now here I am being kidnapped by a handsome giant that just happens to be the third in command to the Decepticons, and with no one to come save me; oh the horror!" he snickered at the end at the look Knockout was giving him. "Don't sweat it cool cat, you may not be my type but dayum," His hand went to his chin, doing his best to make it seem like he's looking over the mech. "It'd be a crime not to admire you Hotstuff."  
"Flattery will not save you human." Asher gave an over dramatic groan.  
"Starscream right?" Asher waved his hand around, "Oh wait Lord Starscream...I can already tell I won't like you much." Asher looked back towards Soundwave. "He's a control freak isn't he?" Starscream's face grew with rage before Asher burst out laughing at something Soundwave transmitted. "You're a riot sweetcheeks!"  
"Asher, I'm detecting a ground bridge opening a few meters away. Keep on ranting, you're panic induced defense mechanism is buying time." Asher cut off his laughter and sighed.  
"Hey, hey, hey," Asher leaned over to look past Knockout. "Why haven't you said anything Handsome? Am I going too fast for you?"  
"You sure I can't smash him?"  
"Lord Megatron wants him in once piece, he has technology no other human has and has also managed to kill one of our more...devoted soldiers. Unfortunately he wishes him alive and unspoiled." Starscream answered bitterly and Asher gave a gasp at the tone.  
"Got tired of me already Seeker? Aw I'm hurt." he put a hand where his heart would be before looking at Breakdown again. "Seriously though, what's your problem? Or is it that you just like smashing itty-bity people? Wait you're missing an eye?" he exclaimed, he leaned forward in anticipation. "How'd you lose it? Petra never told me how she lost hers even though I asked every time I saw her!" Silence and the Exo gave a whine. "Come one! I bet there's a story behind that!"  
"You fleshie's took it." Asher lowered his arm and his hand clenched into a fist. His panic induced playful demeanor gone in the face of acquiring further information on the humans currently inhabiting Earth.  
"What the hell do you mean humans took it?" Soundwave tilted his head at the change of tone, it went deeper and more refined.  
"Didn't the Autobots tell you? The humans took it upon themselves to take one of ours and proceeded to torture him." Asher looked back at Soundwave, optics wide behind his visor as he stared up at the mech.  
"You are lying to me yes? You're faction title would suggest that you would do anything to turn any potential enemies, to you, or allies against the Autobots and humans." Asher tapped the side of his helmet. "Why should I believe anything you have to say?"  
"They're close enough, Asher use Blade Dancer!" Asher grunted, the lightning coming forth, before Soundwave was zapped too harshly he released the Exo who landed roughly on the ground below. A high pitched whine came from Asher, "You're leg Asher! Quick, get on the Sparrow." the Sparrow appeared just as the others reached for him but he sent two electrical waves and they flinched back. Asher hobbled onto the sparrow and raced off to the area Hunter marked.  
"When we return you are to search through their logs and find me everything on what they said. It doesn't matter what happens you will get on that without delay." Asher growled at Hunter who gave an affirmative. He could hear the vehicles coming after him and the Seeker and Third gaining on him from the air. "We really need to work on the sparrow, we need to be faster."  
"Incoming!" Asher swerved, more than once having to slow down to drift around then speed back up again before he was once again pinned in between the two vehicles. Asher glanced at the two, he could jump but that would further damage his leg. "You're boosters are down and your leg, in human terms, is broken. If you jump it won't be good." Whelp! Looks like he's screwed unless...He looked forward again at the rev of an engine. Yes! "Coding has been broken, communications are back up!"  
"Bulkhead, Arcee!" Asher called through the comm, relief clear in his strained voice; the pain from his leg was growing, man does having pain receptors suck!  
"Keep going Asher! Optimus and Bumblebee are a little ways off!" With that said Arcee and Bulkhead transformed, shooting as soon as they landed. Knockout and Breakdown swerved; Starscream and Soundwave shooting the two before going ahead after Asher. They shot at the Exo, a slight panic creeping up on him again. Hunter did his best keep his partner safe, telling him to keep straight to meet with the others but the two airborne lieutenants had different plans. A large blast had the Exo making a sharp turn.  
"Cliff ahead, Asher you need to change course!"  
"I'm trying!" but when he tried to more shot were fired.  
"They're driving us to a cliff. They have Asher backed into a corner!" Asher hit the breaks before he could go over. The two transformed and stood before the Exo with their weapons drawn and focused on him.  
"Hunter, we can revive here right?" was that his voice? It sounded a lot more frail than he intended.  
"I am not entirely sure..." Asher hovered closer to the cliff. "You're still going to jump aren't you?"  
"We have your location Hunter. Asher we are heading through the lower road to make our way up." Asher looked over but didn't spot the autobots.  
"You have nowhere to go human roach, surrender quietly." Asher turned his head wishing Starscream could feel the burn of his stare, Soundwave was tilting his head. He could hear a constant buzzing sort of sound coming from the Exo but he couldn't pinpoint where and what is was coming from, this human although high in tech was just that, a human. Asher carefully got off his sparrow, it disappeared and he stood near the edge.  
"I think I'd rather die than be taken by you Ice-cream." He jumped, Hunter began whispering soothing words he'd learn helped his partner every time he was killed and brought back. "Any way to make it hurt less?" Hunter continued his stream of words, a ledge jutting out had the Exo curl up in an attempt to soften that first impact. He grunted as he hit, his hand stretched to catch the ledge but it only twisted the arm the wrong way and made him scream. He bounced off the slanted slope and ended up rolling the rest of the way down, the road finally coming into view over that one ledge. "Shit!" was he all he thought when he made out yellow and black at the cliff's bottom before an intense pain and then the familiar claws of death caught him.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
"They're driving us to a cliff. They have Asher backed into a corner!"  
"Optimus we need to hurry, Hunter has informed me that Asher's leg has been damaged as well as his boosters that would help him soften his fall." Blumblebee beeped into the communicator. "If he's been reading the data on the Decpticons then I'm afraid he would jump."  
"We have your location Hunter. Asher we are heading through the lower road to make our way up." They sped through the road but could not get a physical view of Asher. As they drew nearer to the location they spotted something falling; it hit the jutted out portion of the cliff. Bumblebee began to beep in a panic when they heard the scream. Asher rolled the rest of the way down so Optimus transformed as the Exo landed harshly. The Prime stopped the body from rolling over the road's edge, Soundwave listened for the Exo's heart but he found none.  
"HuMaN iS DeCeAsEd." Starscream growled as a ground bridge opened behind them.  
"Back to base you two, the human is dead. Lord Megatron will not be pleased." Bumblebee was beeping at the silent Exo.  
"Open a ground bridge Ratchet, we have Asher...Clear a berth." A bridge opened, Optimus gently lifted the fallen Exo into his hand and walked through with Bumblebee beeping sadly at losing a friend, a new friend no less. Once through Ratchet instructed Asher be laid on the berth but before he assessed the damage he scanned for life, any sign of life in the smaller being but he found none. Bumblebee worked the ground bridge for Arcee and Bulkhead as they called in for one once the medic and ex-wrecker left through their own.  
"He is gone." Arcee and Bulkhead came through in time to hear it.  
"No, he can't be gone!" the femme stated in sonfusion. "He said he couldn't stay de-!" Asher's body glowed a blue light as Hunter appeared.  
"You're right, he won't be dead long. It seems that there are some...residual effects from absorbing Crota's essence. It is fading, it should take the rest of the day for it to completely leave his body." Hunter expanded and a light blinded the five autobots before Asher stood there and stretched until he was satisfied. "Welcome back Asher."  
"Okay that wasn't as painful as the time a Zealot almost cleaved me in two." Asher looked up at the titans and waved his arms around crazily. "Can you believe the nerve of those guys? Where the hell did that sword even come from ya know? Take note Hunter!" he said dramatically. "Don't play chicken with Taken Zealots or Decepticons, it's not fun being dead."  
"Noted alongside the new data folder." Asher had Hunter remove his helmet before he sighed, the Autobots gathered around him.  
"So you know how the Guardians are born from the Traveler's light?" they nodded. "Well we died at one point, our Ghosts find our remains; they bring us back with the light the Traveler granted them. We're revived, some of us are dead longer than most, some go back to the Golden Age while others are more recent...the Guardians can die unlimited times as far as I know, and our partner will bring us back, if it’s the reason we died left us with broken arms and stuff..our Ghost can use up what light we have left to fix that and bring us back in one piece."  
"That sounds highly unlikely, bringing someone back and without injuries, however with what we just witnessed I am inclined to start believing again." Ratchet commented.  
"Yay, I got top boss' approval!" Hunter sent fond exasperation, "but I don't blame you for the skepticism; have you seen the different scenarios people have for toying around with death and artificial intelligence? My god! All the films no wait...movies?-yeah movies I've been missing out on!" Bulkhead seemed to be grinning. "I looked up different genres and man! I can't wait to start on that horror selection!"  
"Heck yeah! That's what I'm talking about Asher-8!" Bulkhead held a hand down to Asher before realizing he may not know what it is he wanted but Asher jumped up and gave the big lug a high five with a loud whoop in agreement.  
"I hear there are newer ones coming out, there're these short videos on a website called You...uh, dammit! Um give me a second!" Asher started muttering under his breath, what was the name of that website?  
"Wait, hold on there!" Arcee interrupted. "Before you two start gushing over your movies we need to finish the discussion we started."  
"Arcee is correct," Optimus added. "You've said that your death will not be permanent, is that true in all respects?" Asher's voice returned to its serious state.  
"No actually, I can die and stay that way. When Ariel didn't return from the Black Garden the Vanguard ordered a search, hoping that her body could at least be found but whatever happened sealed where the Heart laid. Do you know why they held no hope in finding her alive?" Hunter grew nervous and began to hover from one side of Asher to the other. Asher lifted a hand so Hunter could settle on and pulled the ghost to his chest, encasing him between his hands as the 'bots waited for him to continue. "When we die our Ghost brings us back, what do you think would happen if we lost our partner first?"  
"You would become...mortal, in a sense that is." Asher nodded to the medic, glad that at least one of them was catching on quickly.  
"Our partners make us a priority, they don't feel their own pain...they feel ours. When we die, they feel the cold it leaves before bringing us back."  
"What if you die and for some reason they can't bring you back; what happens then?" the grip tightened on Hunter. Bumblebee beeped, Arcee glancing over to the young scout for a moment before continuing her questions. "If your partner makes it priority to protect you do you do the same for them?"  
"Yes," he answered straight up. "Our Ghosts believe we are the last line between extinction but Guardians can be replaced by other Ghosts. In the time I've been alive I've never heard of a Guardian dying permanently without their Ghost's light being extinguished. Us Guardians are a vessel for their light, a way for it become a weapon and a shield. My team...we-" he let out a breathy sound, none of their Ghosts new what he was about to say. "We made a silent pact, a promise that above all else we would not let the darkness take our light. We made it our top priority to protect our partners and shield them from whatever would want to take them. They may not feel pain on their own but they know fear from their partners." a fear that seemed to be creeping up on Hunter, few Guardians see their partner capable of human emotion, just how they see Exos as being the same as the other robot life forms that help in the tower; meeting Cayde usually helped out with that. Optimus was about to ask a question, "Hold that thought." Asher turned his back to them and brought his partner up, his forehead touched the little machine. "Hey, calm down Hunt. The darkness can't reach you here. As far as I'm concerned, this is the best place to keep both of us safe." The 'bots watched, the silence stretching out until Asher let Hunter disappear and turned back to them. He nodded, permission to continue.  
"Can this ability be used on someone other than the one Guardian?" Asher let out a short laugh, that question had been asked more than once back home.  
"No, like I said each Guardians is a vessel of light. It's because of that light that we can be revived at all; if any human that fell to the diseases the Fallen brought could be brought back by us...we'd be more than just Guardians wouldn't we? Imara tried using her Sunsinger but it did nothing but provide warmth and helped the man pass peacefully. Though from then on, with the worst of them- she used what we use as a weapon on the field as a peace bringer in the city. I think that's when Dren really fell in love with her." the tone in his voice fell into was one of fond remembrance and awe. Bumblebee beeped and the spaced out gleam in his glowing optics went away as he snapped his attention to the yellow mech. "Nah, I'm alright Bee just remembering the good times."  
"We can continue this discussion at a later time if you wish." Asher barked out a quick, sharp laugh and shook his head at the notion.  
"I'm grateful Optimus but I think it wouldn't be too wise to leave me to my thoughts after I just died." Ratchet turned to his screen. Hunter sent him an overall report about Asher and dying. "I think the stress of all of this might be getting to me. Huh never thought I’d say that outloud."  
"What do you need?" Asher looked up at the Autobot leader.  
"Keep talking to me or let me shoot something so I can keep from...from you know what I'm not even sure what will happen. Distract me I guess." and just then a beep came from Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee.  
"It's almost time to pick up Miko, Raf and Jack from school." Arcee said. Asher perked up at the thought of seeing this Earth's version of a school.  
"Do you think I can come?" and his playful tone returned. "I wanna see this Earth's school, is it in a city too? I wanna see, please?" At the last question he turned glowing optics up to Optimus who paused in consideration.  
"I do not think it is wise to leave the base Asher, Megatron sent his most lethal of his army to apprehend you. I fear that the reason is grave." Bumblebee beeped in answer to his leader.  
"Well if they think I’m dead..."Asher started, Bulkhead got the idea and so input his own.  
"Do you have anything other than your armor to wear?" the Wrecker looked the Exo over.  
"Well I have my coat, Hunter can just remove the armor." Hunter removed the armor, the golden chest piece disappeared, as did his gauntlets/vambraces. He changed his golden leg armor for a more inconspicuous black and his gauntlets the same inconspicuous black. Asher did a slow turn, "Is this better?"  
"Yes, is the helmet you had before the only one you have?" Asher nodded his hooded head at Arcee.  
"The problem is that not only one Decepticon saw you but four and two of those are in Megatron's inner circle." Asher groaned and dropped to sit on the floor. "I am sorry Asher-8 but I cannot take the chance of you being recognized." Asher grumbled to the Autobot leader.  
"But they think I'm dead! Besides would they really make a move in the middle of what I'm assuming is a human populated area?" Optimus sighed, moving down to be eye level with Asher who turned his head to look anywhere but at him.  
"The Decepticons do not care for human lives like we do, they do not care who is caught in between our fight. If they were to see you are not dead; there is a chance they will make an appearance and take you." Asher looked back to Optimus and gave one nod.  
"Maybe I won't miss Imara too much, seems like I got someone like her right here; the voice of reason." Asher crossed his arms, "You do have a point there Swordfish. I guess I'm stuck here indefinitely."  
"Again I am sorry Asher-8 but it would be much safer for you here, the Decepticons do not know of our location. They will not be able to find you." Optimus nodded to Ratchet who opened a ground bridge, the three autobots glancing at Asher who sat there looking miserable before going through the bridge in their Alt. mode. As the bridge closed Asher jumped off the high platform causing Optimus to quickly catch him in his servo.  
"Trust fall exercise complete!" Asher turned on his back, head tilted up so he and Optimus would see optics to optics. "I know you mean well Optimus but I can't just be stuck here forever, I want to help you guys!"  
"You said as such before you left," Ratchet said as he typed away on his keyboard. "You're quick thinking when you first arrived helped me save lives. If you wish to learn, I will teach you more about our biology. That material you used on Optimus' wound was a risky but necessary move. If you learned then I would be able to send you out on the field, there are times they cannot make it back to me." Asher's optics went from their dim light to brighter.  
"I'd like to learn first aid!" Asher said as he sat up in Optimus' hand. Ratchet gave a rare chuckle at the Exo's enthusiasm. "But you do realize I will eventually have to be let out of here right? I mean, what's the point of me being a medical assistant if I'm stuck here anyway?"  
"The boy has a point Optimus." Asher grew smug at the medic's support.  
"I understand, but for the moment you will be learning and there will be no need to send you out." Asher let out sigh, his "breath" holding a static sound to it.  
"You don't know what will happen Swordfish. If I've learned enough and you guys are in trouble I'm going even if I have to broadcast my location to get their attention," Asher crossed his arms. "As a Guardian I act first, that is my instinct. I fight and I protect even if it means losing myself. I need you two to understand that." Ratchet hummed, his gaze scrutinizing. "This isn't a suicide note." he added in.  
"From your previous actions, I'm not quite sure." Asher stood up on the Autobot leader's servo and stared defiantly up at the medic, support or not he is no way suicidal. He only miscalculated, slightly.  
"I know my actions were stupid, heck Hunter was going to give me hell once we returned but he's holding back because I just died and I've only ever died and come back when I'm in the middle of a battle. I never had time to dwell on the lingering cold from death but every time I do die I hate the feeling that grips me before I go under so do you really think I would want to kill myself so often? Those tricks I did with my sparrow I did back home with Dren and Imara but yeah I scrapped up on the last jump, I'll give you that one but I would have made it. With a broken arm or something but I wouldn't have died." they said nothing and Asher closed his eyes for a moment before looking over the side to gauge the distance to the floor.  
"Asher," Hunter appeared beside him. "You're boosters are damaged, I recommend working on them until Ratchet has time to teach us. We also have to figure out how to make bullets for your weapons, especially for the fusion rifle."  
"Yeah that makes sense," he looked back to Optimus, the mech's gaze was steady but there was a wariness to them so when Asher spoke his voice came out softer than he intended. "Can you please let me down Optimus?" Optimus lowered the Exo to the ground and Asher stepped off the Mech's servo.  
"Asher-8..." The Exo shook his head at the Prime.  
"Don't worry about a thing Doll, Hunter and I are just gonna be in our room figuring stuff out." He looked to Ratchet as he started walking backwards. "Let Hunter know when we can start, I'll be needing your advice and input soon. He's also sending you everything the Decepticons said." He waved, "Oh and uh tell the humies I'll be busy for a while so I'll catch 'em when I can."

**-Tower, The Last City-**  
**"It's been practically a week Cayde! A week and we don't even know where Oryx ran with his ugly tail between his legs! We don't know if he has Asher or if he's gone and killed him!" Cayde groaned and Locien couldn't help but give a weak grin behind his visor along with a shrug to his friend. Cayde knew he wouldn't answer for him so he looked to the Titan.**  
**"I told you a billion times already Dren, it’s been three days at most and Asher-8 is too damn stubborn to die, he's like Shiro-4 that way but that's beside the point. Oryx didn't even know you were there until you were right at the entrance to his throne."**  
**"Meaning what?" eyes turned to Laia, a Warlock standing beside Ikora Rey.**  
**"Meaning he couldn't have taken Asher, not if he didn't even see us until it was too late." Dren turned to the Hunter equipped with a yellow cloak, James. "Did any of you speak to Eris regarding the Essence of Crota Vector got? The effects it would have beside our armor becoming Taken?"**  
**"Eris said there wasn't enough for the amount of Guardians that presented themselves to face the Taken King. James," the yellow cloaked Hunter turned to Locien, his brother. "When Asher gave you the crystal did he say he drank in its essence?"**  
**"He had mentioned he took some while with Eris, that's why she gave the rest to us." Ikora sighed and Zavala gave a muttered curse.**  
**"What?" Dren asked, Imara gave a gasp at the realization so he turned to her with a frantic shake to her shoulders. "What Imara? What happened to him?"**  
**"We needed to become ascendant to go through the portal, we had to convince the rift that we were Taken right down to the core." she answered.**  
**"He didn't take as much of the essence like the rest of you, he purposely did it so that all of you would get through the rift to defeat Oryx." Everyone turned their attention to Eris who stood at the entrance to the hall. "I told him there was a chance the rift would not accept all of you, there was not enough essence from Crota for it to equally affect all of the Guardians chosen."**  
**"So you let him take the least amount knowing it could possibly kill him?" Dren asked with narrowed eyes. Eris stepped further into the room, Locien had his attention to Dren and Imara; her answer may not be one they'll like.**  
**"You're fellow Guardian asked me of the consequences, he knew that what you obtained from Crota was not the amount I had told him to acquire. He took it upon himself to give the rest of the Guardians a chance to defeat the Taken King; Asher-8 stated that his part was over, he did what he set out to do and the rest was up to you." Dren's hands clenched into fists and Imara's Arc energy crackled, she was still trying to get a hold on her newest power.**  
**"Calm down." James said as he stepped up beside them just as Hawke-76 appeared behind Eris. The Sunbreaker was never too far from her charge, not after Locien and the Queen assigned her to Eris since her arrival to the Reef.**  
**"I don't a need a little shit telling me to calm down!" Imara took a step forward and Hawke-76 stood in front of Eris, blocking her from the nearly hostile Guardians. James swung an arm out in front of Imara to keep her in place, he could care less if they wanted to fight.**  
**"Enough." Locien uncrossed his arms when they didn't step down. It was bad enough that they wanted to have a go at Eris but there was no need in shutting down James. "I said enough you two or are you that desperate for James and I to kick both of your asses?" Imara took a deep breath, her Arc energy simmering down but Dren and Hawke were still staring each other down.**  
**"Asher-8 is not dead he is...misplaced." At that Dren looked back to Imara but her face betrayed nothing. "The rift opened but it sent him somewhere else, a different and yet similar place." James turned away from the riled Titan and Warlock to address Eris, his eyes completely bypassing them and their reactions.**  
**"Can we get him back?" Dren felt the guilt crawl up his spine, he didn't mean to be so harsh at James not after what happened to Ethan but addressing it now would be met with forced cheer.**  
**"Bringing him back would require us to turn to the darkness you all despise so much." Hawke answered, her Exo features giving nothing away to what she thought of the solution.**  
**"That is forbidden, we will not allow it." Ikora answered. "Better yet the Speaker will not allow it."**  
**"We can't just abandon Asher," Laia finally spoke again. "He's one of us, same team or not doesn't matter; he's a Guardian and our friend."**  
**"Laia's right we can't just leave him wherever the hell he is." Zavala's frown deepened when James spoke his support. James had only recently gotten Asher-8 back to them but he knew in his heart he had not completely forgiven the other hunter regardless of the Exo insistently protecting the man when Locien was not present.**  
**"It would be too risky, what if the darkness kills you instead of bringing back Asher-8? What if we open a rift and something other than our Guardian comes through? We would be fighting another enemy and we're barely recovering from the last one!" Cayde was unusually silent on the topic. He was having some sort of silent conversation with Eris who, although was grimacing in disgust, nodded along with his soft words.**  
**"And what if he's fighting a losing battle on the other side? Asher sacrificed himself so that we could kill the Taken King but we haven't even accomplished that. As far as we know, it was Oryx that created the rift meaning he could do it again if he noticed something wrong. He could go to wherever Asher is and start his conquest all over again." The room erupted in loud voices throwing out arguments. Locien looked between Eris and Cayde before sighing, they were going to suggest something completely and utterly crazy but he had no doubt it would be an open suggestion; they would go find him and find a way back from the other side. Eris left the hall and returned to her perch and Cayde looked to Locien who shook his helmet covered head at the Exo.**  
**"You can't stop us from trying!" James roared when Zavala brought up the darkness still lingering inside Asher.**  
**"You can bet your Ghost we can." Zavala returned, his patience running thin. He thought that out of everyone present, James would understand the potential risks.**  
**"No," everyone turned to Locien. "As of this moment Hawke-76, James Venator, Dren Walker and Imara Aclissius are under the service of the Reef." Both Zavala's and Ikora's eyes widened in disbelief. Cayde leaned on the table, Asher was an old friend...one of the few he remembered even after the wipes; he had no qualms about this. "Do not forget that your previous lack in communication with the Reef ended up with Petra exiled and over 300 Guardians decimated; whether you like it or not...we are going after Asher with or without your help or approval."**  
**"Loc, what about Laia?" Locien looked from James to Laia, her face scrunched in confusion.**  
**"She and the new Ravagers will be the link between the Reef and the Tower until we return." Laia nodded, at first she held qualms about taking up both Ariel’s and Laura’s mantle but Locien reassured her it would be what they wanted. "Petra and Variks will be in charge while I'm away." the as well as Eris, went unsaid but nonetheless was understood.**  
**"That's if you return Locien and not only that, you're dragging along four Guardians!" Ikora scolded, though her voice did not have biting edge that Zavala’s did.**  
**"Leave them," once again they were surprised, Lord Saladin was walking into the room.**  
**"Lord Saladin-"**  
**"No Ikora, they are thinking as Iron Lords. We never purposely left a comrade behind, if we do not try then we are no better than the Fallen or the Hive." Locien nodded his thanks to the Iron Lord before leaving, the others following in step behind him. Locien wondered that if Osiris had been there, would he have helped them find a better way. Regardless, they needed to act now or risk losing Asher again. They needed to speak with Eris, they needed to find Asher and bring him home.**


	4. I'm an Exo, who are you?

**** "How is Asher-8's progress old friend?" Ratchet paused in his reading and gave his attention to Optimus.

"He has progressed well enough in the human time of four weeks though I must tell you Optimus, his true calling is in engineering.  With what scrap we could find and give him he has managed to repair the device that allows him to soften his landing, his vehicle is now faster than before and he has told me that he may be able to replicate the invisibility device he showed the children to cloak larger beings like us." Was that pride in Ratchet's tone? Optimus noted the Medic's attitude of Asher was much more than tolerance now.

"Do you deem him stable enough to send into the field if needed?" At that the Medic sighed and gave a reluctant nod.

"He has confessed though that facing four Decepticons at once without his team made him panic but I believe he should be fine as long as he is not alone while facing a squadron." Asher came into the room with Hunter hovering over his shoulder, both were staring at a data-pad.

"Ratchet I think I might of figured this out." Asher paused when he spotted Optimus before continuing forward, dismissing the Prime’s presence for now.  "The problem is that I'll need more energon to try it but I know you're reserves are not as large as they once were so I'll need to find an alternate source."

"And where do you think you'll find that source?" Asher gave a low hum in thought, he had been asking himself that question ever since he realized that energon would be needed to power the device.

"To be honest Ratchet?" he sighed.  "I'm not too sure, I mean I could test it with my light energy but then the problem of an alternative power source is still there."

"Would you be able to produce enough of you Light in order to test it?" Asher looked to Hunter at Optimus' question.  He had hope that the mech would keep out of the discussion but it was asking too much it seems. Damn the giant with his bothersome concern.

"We would be able to but the cost would be much, due to the fact that we need it to shroud a large mech like, let's say, you Optimus it would deplete our energy and cause Asher to fall unconscious and force me to-" Asher grabbed Hunter causing the Ghost to quiet.

"It will be fine, I'm not trying anything until I have all the numbers figured out and seeing as I am not as great at math as I'd like to be, even though I really like building; it will take a while." Optimus gave that disapproving look to Asher who squirmed under it before tapping at the data pad to escape it.  "Anyway! There were some humans here a while ago...they asked if I knew where the barracks were?" Ratchet sighed which caused Asher to look back up from his data pad with Hunter still smushed in the crook of his arm.

"They were supposed to enter through this door here not the alternate entrance, it is much too close to the berthroom you chose." Asher tilted his head, confusion bleeding into Hunter.  "They are not aware of the children or of you being here, I'm surprised they didn't detain and question you."

"So wait, you're saying that your liaison (he was not calling that nosy, sarcastic stick by his name) hasn't told the government that there are three children involved now in your war?" Asher pulled Hunter up to eye level.  "Nah they know right? I mean they introduced himself as Will and Epps, they greeted us as if I knew who they were. I simply contacted Arcee and she told me the information I needed to know, they looked tired." 

"They saw you as one of their own that arrived early or perhaps as our liaison between both teams." Asher shrugged at Optimus who hummed.  "Nevertheless, Major Lennox was to find me as soon as he touched down outside the base; where are they now Asher?"

"Follow me Swordfish and I'll show ya!" Hunter disappeared and Optimus knelt down, a servo blocking Asher's way.  The Exo gave a childish groan as he looked up at the Prime. This is why he had been avoiding direct contact with the mech, the Prime liked to keep him from danger that Asher saw as fun.  "I already met them! It wouldn't matter anymore right?"

"They do not know what you are Asher-8, are you sure you are ready to reveal your past to our allies?" and at that Asher slumped forward onto Prime's servo, his arms hanging over his digit.

"You have a point there," a sigh.  "What do you think I should do? I mean I'm gonna eventually be let out into the field, if they get hurt I can help out in medi. aid, shouldn't they at least know me?"

"I cannot decide for you Asher-8, as you have stated your help would be invaluable but how much of you they should know is yours and your partner's decision." Asher pushed off the mech's servo and started talking with Hunter in silence.  He was rocking on the heels of his feet, Optimus stayed kneeling but Ratchet returned to his work. Asher's optics dimmed for a moment before they brightened and the Exo looked at Optimus with a renewed bout of energy. Optimus turned his servo over, the palm facing up so that Asher could climb on.  "You have decided?" a nod as Optimus started walking down the hall, following Asher's directions when he pointed left or right even though he knew exactly where the humans were. "Will you tell them everything?" a shake of the head. "Just that you are a robotic life form?" a nod and so Optimus hummed.  "I suppose then we can merely say you arrived some time ago with your carrier in hopes of refuge, your landing was compromised." Asher slowly lowered his hand and looked up at the Prime.

"Or we can just say I was created by cybertronians I don't remember and was somehow left behind in an Energon mine where my partner activated me and I felt obligated to help you because said partner informed me of who you are?" Optimus nodded once to the Exo who had his helmet on again as he pointed left and they came to a door.  It opened and there were the group of NEST Rangers moving things around while loading back up their bedding. "Hey guys, I'm back and I brought Swordfish with me!" Everyone stopped and stared up at the Autobot leader.

"I extend you my greetings and welcome." Optimus moved forward so Asher put a hand to one of the Prime's digits that curled towards him.  "Where is Major Lennox?"

"Optimus!" Fig called as soon as he got free from the mass he was loading.  "Jefe (Boss) is outside with Ironhide, Epps is with him and...well Sammy is here too." Asher felt the change in Optimus, like electricity in the air and so with one look to the leader he jumped from his perch.  The Rangers shouted in alarm but Asher only used his double jump to land safely, he happily got that fixed first. As soon as he was grounded Optimus went outside to find the group. Asher sighed and looked back at the gaping Marines.

"Heya there," he waved once.  "Who is Sammy?" Fig let out a loud laugh and so Asher joined in, they finished together and when they calmed down Asher asked again.  “No seriously who’s Sammy?” Fig looked at him as if he was an idiot or something so Asher crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently.

“You really don’t know?” Asher shrugged.  “Aren’t you the liaison por este equipo (for this team) and the government?”

"No, you guys just assumed I was the liaison and a human at that which...ya know it was actually kind of nice, the feeling I mean." Asher uncrossed his arms and all at once his helmet and hood fell away and Fig stood staring with a few other Rangers.  "That's the reaction I'm usually used to but anyway, the name's Asher-8; call me Asher or 8...whatever you prefer?" Asher looked at the staring men and women, every time he turned his optics on one their eyes would widen and Asher started wondering if they opened enough would their eyeballs pop out like the Fallen’s when he head shot them.  Hunter sent him a mix of disgust, amusement, and disappointment and Asher had to pick which one to go with. "So...who is Sammy? Is he a part of your group? Also what do you call yourselves?"

"Sammy is actually named Sam Witwicky, sound familiar at all?" Asher gave a huh in answer and then it all clicked.

"Sam Witwicky, helped save Mission City and Optimus Prime, meaning you are the team of Marines that helped the Autobots fight against the Decepticons." Fig nodded, his face undoubtedly serious.  "I did not know about your arrival, I do not get to go outside of the base not unless a Medic is needed on the field but even then I've only been cleared recently for duty or so Hunter tells me. That means Will is formerlu Lt. Colonel Lennox and Epps is his second; Robert, right?"

" Sí, sólo lo llaman Epps. No le gusta cuando le llaman Robert, no sabemos por qué . (Yes, they are but just call him Epps.  He doesn’t like it when they call him Robert, we don’t know why.)" the small team was looking at Fig in confusion but Asher nodded along.  " ¿Crees que no hay razón para que a un hombre no le guste el nombre que le dio su madre? Está loco si no hay una razón, déjame decirte.  (You think there isn’t a reason that a man doesn’t like the name his mother gave him?  He’s crazy if there isn’t a reason, let me tell you.)" Asher barked out a laugh and Fig was grinning like an idiot.

" Tiene que tener una razón  (he has to have a reason), if he doesn't then he's just an asshole." Fig started laughing like crazy and when the group came in with another Autobot who the Exo assumed was Ironhide, Asher turned to the towering Autobot leader.  "Swordfish, who's who and who exactly do I gotta mind my temper around?" now it was Will, Epps, Sam and Ironhide staring at the Exo who, while asking, had walked up to Optimus and tapped on the Prime's shin plates.

"These are good men and women, they are our allies here on Earth.  You may recall now, they are the team that helped us push back the Decepticons." Asher looked from Ironhide to Sam who shifted under the stare.  Asher went over to the human male, Sam took a step back but Asher stopped just a few feet between them.

"My name is Asher-8, I was found in an Energon mine two weeks ago.  You are the human who was exposed for a long while to the radiation of the Allspark right?" Sam nodded and Optimus quickly, and gently, snatched up the Exo who yelped in response.  "I wasn't gonna say anything over the top Swordfish honest!" Sam was staring now at the Exo in wonder instead of slight anxiousness and fear. "Can we be friends? Because it seems like you need more of em that aren't' ya know fffff-I mean tall, yeah tall is what I meant." Sam gave a weak smile at the joke.

"Yeah I'd like that," Asher gave a whoop.  "Hey uh...is there any room for me to stay?" he directed at Optimus.   Asher's head snapped up at the Prime who gave a slight resigned sigh at what he knew was going through the Exo's head.

"Asher has recently moved into a berthroom and has found there is too much space for him alone." Asher was vibrating with excitement as he looked down at Sam, "If you wish, you may stay with him unless you would rather we find you another room." but Sam shook his head, the smile curling up on his face as he noticed Asher's eyes glow even brighter when he refused a room to himself.

"No I think I'll be good staying with Asher-8, he seems like an okay guy." Asher gave a whoop of victory before squirming in the Prime's hold, he wanted out so he could officially meet everyone but Optimus would not let him down.  Asher tried for another ten seconds before he huffed and crossed his arms. "Hey uh Optimus? Can you let him down? I think everyone wants to know his story." Optimus sighed but did so, Asher held out a fist to Sam as he passed by him and the young man bumped him in return causing some short laughs from some of the Rangers.

"Hey everyone," Asher began as he stood in front of the entire group.  "My name is Asher-8, I'm what is called an Exo. I'm the first and only one of my kind in existence on this planet, two weeks ago I woke up in an Energon mine; Hunter, my partner, activated me after years of looking.  In the few moments I got my bearings he informed me of why exactly he woke me instead of loading memories into me first. The Decepticons were inside the mine with explosives set to kill Optimus and the small chance he had of saving his team.  I followed Hunter's instruction and managed to disarm the explosives in time. Overall, Optimus found me and we managed to save his team and so here we are after four weeks of catching up and loading me up with info on Earth and the history of the Autobot-Decepticon war." A Ranger raised his hand and Asher was amused; he looked like a kid in school so he pointed to him.

"Do you remember why you were asleep?  You also mentioned a partner, Hunter right?  Why was he looking and where exactly is he?" Asher felt Hunter on edge, he knew the Ghost wanted to slap him upside the head for mentioning him.

"I was supposed to be dead but turns out I can come back if I have this little guy," he stretched his hand out and Hunter appeared floating over it.  "He's the one that woke me, he had my memories but since he was supposed to load them before I came online again, I couldn't get all of them in one piece.  So no I don't remember why or how I died here on Earth but it happened, I know there was a war but I don't remember if I took part." Asher looked up to Optimus, "Swordfish tells me they have no record of my existence.  Hunter tells me I was more of a stealth op rather than a guns blazing op but anyway! I'm working with the Autobots now so you'll be seeing me around working on stuff, mostly fixing and exploring; we had a run in with Decepticons and now they think I'm dead so I'm not allowed off base unless it's an emergency." Asher shrugged as if he didn't really care but he did, he was really itching to get out of the base and explore this Earth.  With Ratchet's help he was better in mind, he could deal with dying outside of war a little better than before. It was difficult, usually he wouldn't even outright say what was wrong. James always had to coax it out of him but even then they rarely had time to rest; the stress of it all must be getting to him. After Ethan happened, fighting just became a lot harder yet easier with all the anger he held and at one point it scared him how much he had changed during that month.  There are things he regrets during the time he went off on his own. Fingers snapped in front of his face and Asher blinked once before tilting his head a bit, his red optics focused on Sam standing in front of him.

"Asher, hey; we've been calling your name for a while now." Asher shook his head before stretching up high then coming down to sling an arm around Sam's shoulder.

"Swordfish here can answer your questions, come on Sammy let's grab your gear and blow this cake stand!" Asher dragged the young man out of the area and off to where their room was.  Asher started telling him about some of the stuff he learned and in that trek he learned that Sam was studying to be an engineer but was kicked out of the university because he was focusing more on the classes that interested him while he was failing the others.  He told him how he started travelling because he didn't have anything or anyone waiting for him back home and somehow he ended up with the group of NEST Rangers. He came with them, helping along the way with what he could and that included paving a way for the two teams to work together.  "Eh, I've never been to a school but I kinda want to see it ya'know? Just once I wanna see this place, I don't remember much but what I do...there were no cities, no schools, heck I don't think there was much. Still, I've read a lot on Earthly culture, your wars, your victories and your failures but most of all I've seen pictures of what this Earth looks like.  I've never seen any body of water surrounded with so much green and I want to see that, with my own optics!" Hunter appeared and floated up to the pad and opened the door for them as Asher left out a static filled sigh. "I bet it'd be quite a sight." Sam looked at him then glanced to Hunter who's shell twirled when the dark feelings of the Exo turned to longing and slight joy instead.

"Maybe one day I can convince Optimus to let you come with the me and guys on a mission." Asher let out a laugh as he grew chipper again.

"Thanks but until I get my bearings I'll be lucky if I'll ever get out on the field alone with the big ‘bots.  Still it would be a helluva miracle if you could, would be pretty awesome but until such a miracle happens I'm good sticking indoors and making blueprints." Hunter projected the prints they were working on.  Sam took them in with sharp eyes and Asher was watching him look them over in silence.

"What is this thing supposed to do?" the young man asked as he pointed to a particular print.

"What do you think it's supposed to do?" Sam glanced at the Exo before turning forward again.

"Cloaking, where the retro panels are supposed to be you have this small device." Hunter felt the joy going through his partner.  "This one," he pointed at another. "It looks like you're trying to create new bullets, grenades I think or something having to do with munitions." Asher walked up to stand beside the human.

"I have certain types of weapons that need very specific ammunition; I'm good right now, have enough since I’m being let out into the field but it's best I find ways to recreate what I need." A data pad appeared in Asher's hands so Hunter shut off the holograms.  "This is what the chemical compound of one of my guns looks like." He pulled up the file and gave it to Sam who looked it over, a furrow in his brow. "The original make up is something only Hunter understands; I have tried but have not succeeded in fully understanding.  With Hunter here he tells me what we can use as a substitute. We'll need to get our hands on it first to do some trials but he's found a few materials that are promising."

"What's the first on the list?" Asher looked to his partner who hovered over to be between the two.

"Well after carefully examining the makeup of an Autobot I have confirmed that the Energon they use not only as their life source but to power their weapons and ships is the best option, however our allies' reserves are low as it is and so the second thing we can use would be found in what Ratchet informed us is called their CNA.  The metal they are made from is both living and yet not." Sam was confused and Asher just went back to his data pad. "It is alive in the sense that, if given the proper application, it can be morphed into a weapon. Perhaps another sentient being can be created."

"So you're saying you want to figure out what makes their...metal so special so that you can re-create it?" Asher sighed and Sam was still amazed at how human-ish the 'bot acted.

"What they are created from we cannot re-create, even if we were to try it would backfire.  I have gone through enough of your entertainment to see the multiple possibilities of creating an Artificial Intelligence, can you imagine the scenarios of trying to create a sentient being with a certain type of metal substitute?" Hunter's shell twisted again.  "If something were to go wrong, if there are any small miscalculations, this being or just trying to copy the genetic makeup could be disastrous. That's not something we want to risk, what Hunter is saying is...different." Sam looked between the two mechanized beings with narrowed eyes.  Asher knew he understood and he regretted telling Hunter to keep that option open, the human's face was both angry and disapproving so Asher could only imagine what Optimus' would look like.

"It was an option but not one of the first ones like Hunter suggested, there are metals here we can experiment with; different chemical compounds Ratchet can help us make,  the medic had suggested the synthetic Energon he had created a while back since I won't be consuming it." a knock came from the door and it swished open. Bumblebee paused in his step when he saw Sam standing beside Asher.  The mech beeped in excitement at seeing his old friend and partner. With his appearance Sam's demeanor did a complete 180 and a large grin appeared on the human's face.

"Hey Bumblebee!" Bumblebee knelt down and started sifting through the radio, different phrases coming through so that he could talk to Sam like he used to.  "We actually just got here, Ironhide said you would be waiting for us here but guess he was wrong if you just got back. Where've you been? How have you been?" and just like that they started talking and Asher, being the good Samaritan, left them in privacy.  Once the door closed Raf appeared around the corner so Asher jogged over to him.

"Hi Asher it's been a while," Asher gave a wave as he jogged.  "Have you seen Bumblebee? He just ran off after he made it through the bridge."

"He's with Sam back in my room," Raf grew confused and Asher realized the NEST Rangers weren't the only ones kept in the dark.  "Oh boy, well Bee is catching up with an old friend so let's leave them be for a while alright? I think it's time to tell you three a story." Raf looked over to Asher's door but followed the Exo anyway.  Ironhide was standing in front of Miko and Jack, staring down at them with a frown. Miko was glaring and Jack had a frown of his own that matched the Autobot’s. Optimus and Ratchet were not in the room and Asher had to think what in the hell was going through those mech's giant mechanical heads at leaving a new Autobot with two kids that he didn't know about.

"Asher who's that?" Ironhide turned his gaze to the duo, Raf hid behind the Exo and Asher crossed his arms over his chest.

"That's Ironhide, he's part of Optimus' team.  He was with another team, Rangers I think and just recently got back from wherever." Asher didn't take his eyes off the 'bot, Autobot or not he didn't know the mech and the safety of these three are his priority.  "Ironhide this is Jack, Miko and Raf; they have been involved for a long while now. As far as Optimus has told me they're a part of this team just like Sam was apparently. Pretty awesome right? These squishy guys are actually pretty lovable." the three took comfort in seeing Asher after so long and in the fact that he was still using his playful tone.

"Why did he involve children again?" His tone did not help Asher put points into the like/ally section and certainly didn't help Raf come out to greet the mech.

"Jack, Miko can you take Raf to Bumblebee's room?" and the playfulness was gone.

"No way!  If you're gonna knock some sense into this guy then I wanna watch!" Miko was fuming and Asher realized that not only was Arcee not present but Bulkhead was not either.

"Miko come on," Jack said as he grabbed the girl's arm and started dragging her down the stairs.

"No, this guy deserved to get his face pummeled in!" Asher sighed and dropped his head into one of his hands.  Ironhide's face was blank but that electricity was in the air again. "The moment he saw Bulkhead and Arcee he started mouthing off!  No one disses my partner and his friend and gets away with it!" she was straining against Jack, calling to Asher to tell him to let her stay.  Jack was repeatedly telling he to be quiet but she wouldn't listen and just as Irondhide went to finally answer the human's accusations Asher cut in.

"Miko," Miko stopped.  Asher's voice was calm and sharp and she had not yet been at the receiving end of his seriousness.  "Go with Jack, take Raf to Bee's room and wait for me there got it?" Asher looked over his shoulder, the light in his red optics was dimmed.  The teenage girl grumbled but did as she was told. Once they were far enough Hunter appeared and tried talking to the Exo but Asher simply pushed the Ghost away and looked up to Ironhide.

"You got something to say punk?" Hunter disappeared as the irritation in Asher grew, his Arc energy spiking a bit.

"Don't be an asshole caboose," the 'bot's optics narrowed, was that electricity coming from the smaller ‘bot?. "They saw them fighting the Decepticons, they made them swear to secrecy but that didn't mean the Decepticons were going to leave them alone.  They saw them together, saw the reaction Bee and the others had when they were caught in the crossfire; you honestly think they would have left them alone after discovering that?" Ironhide growled but he didn't say a thing, the mech knew Asher was right.  "Unlike with Sam it was pure accident so don't go blaming and pointing fingers like a child."

"It was a rookie mistake, Bulkhead was a part of the Wreckers and Arcee was part of the Elite guard.  They should not have allowed it to happen in the first place." Asher sighed but nodded anyway.

"I get it alright?  There are times that even I cannot be prepared for the unexpected but things happen and let me tell you, if it weren't for them these guys would be dead a hundred times over." Ironhide knelt down a rumbling coming from him.  "You work with humans as well, you know they're a factor that's good for you and the others."

"Yes but they are children, Raf looks like a sparkling in its adolescent stage, Miko and Jack seem to be entering the stages Bumblebee has only just left...Sparklings are rare for us now and they would not be in the middle of fighting but inside, kept safe and away from harm."

"And they are being kept safe," Hunter said, finally deciding to jump into the conversation.  He made a mech sized data pad appeared beside Irondhide. "Everything you need to know is on that data pad, about Asher and about me." Ironhide nodded and took the datapad, his mind again asking how it appeared out of nowhere just like the Ghost.  "What we told your human comrades is a cover, what you will read is the truth. We will do everything we can to protect them and the humans of this Earth, that you can be assured of."

"Are we good here?" the Exo added in after his partner.  Ironhide rumbled again and Asher realized that was his version of a hum, it was vastly different from Optimus' static filled one.

"I suppose we are Steelfrost." Ironhide stood and without another word left the Exo alone wondering about the name Steelfrost.  It would have to wait though, he needed to speak to the kids. He had to tell them, the Marines were going to be coming in and out of the base.  Optimus will be angry but even he has to know that they won't be able to hide the three for long with them coming in unannounced every time. Hunter agreed with him, the liaison that often appeared in the reports they read knew but just didn't say; since the incident with Sam they thought it was a good idea he didn't report it directly.  His head was so full of his thoughts that he walked passed both Sam and Bumblebee without a second glance even when Sam called his name and Bumblebee beeped in question. They stared after the Exo as he turned the corner, Bumblebee had done his best to explain to Sam what and who Asher really was. It helped understand the Exo’s way of thinking at least a little bit, especially with the bit of history he managed to understand from his ex-partner.  They left the Exo to his own devices and went off to find the rest of the Autobots Sam didn’t know. Asher knew his decisions was the correct one and so he made it to Bee's room without delay. When he opened the door there were the kids waiting for him just as he asked.

He rose a hand, everything they were gonna say stopped before it could leave their mouths.  "You weren't the first humans to interact with the Autobots or the Decepticons." he began, his voice still calm but the sharpness from it was gone.  "When the Autobots first came to Earth, it was because they were searching for something call the AllSpark, a cube that would have made it easier for Cybertron to be reborn.  Megatron came to Earth before them, he held coordinates on the cube's whereabouts but he crash landed and went into stasis, you with me so far?" the three nodded, Asher noted that Miko was not only still fuming but she was uncharacteristically silent.  "That's where Sam comes in, his grandfather, Archibald Witwicky, found Megatron on an exploration. He unknowingly triggered Megatron's distress beacon and when the wave went out so did the coordinates to the cube but they didn't make it passed the explorers.  They implanted themselves into the man's glasses. Sam still had those glasses, Bumblebee found him and reported back to Optimus. He hid as Sam's new car, kept an eye on him and it was a good thing too. The Decepticons found him as well, it took them twenty-seconds to hack into the government's highly secured firewall.  Bee protected him and another he was with, Mikaela; Optimus, Ratchet, Ironhide, and Jazz made it to Earth that same night."

"Does that have something to do with the attack in Mission City?" Asher nodded to Jack.  "So it wasn't a terrorist attack?" the Exo shook his head.

"There was human interference, your government had a secret branch called Sector 7, they knew about the Cybertronians, they took Sam and Mikaela into custody.  They took Bumblebee as well, they started freezing him alive." Raf sucked in a breath. "By then the Secretary of Defense knew the truth, the formerly known Lt. Colonel.William Lennox and his team went face to face with a Decepticon in the desert.  With their help they freed Bee and he took the cube into his custody. They smuggled it into Mission City but Megatron was waking up and they didn't have time. Optimus and the others caught up to them, Sam was tasked with taking the cube across the city to a pick up zone.  The men there were killed by Megatron and Sam almost died but Optimus managed to save him. Megatron would not let the cube go, he wanted to rebuild Cybertron but here on Earth. Optimus was still not strong enough then, felled in combat Megatron went for Sam but the Prime managed a shot at the Decepticon leader.  Megatron went to finish Optimus but Sam was quicker, he shoved the cube into Megatron's chest and the radiation was enough to kill the Decepticon. He saved Prime's life just as Prime saved his, that's how Bee knows the young human and that's why Ironhide was mouthing off to the others. Bulkhead was a part of the Wreckers and Arcee was part of the Elite Guard, in his eyes he saw no reason you should have accidentally gotten involved but you did."

"Still doesn't give him a reason to insult our partners!" ah, there was the Miko he had met.  "Everyone makes mistakes, right? I'm pretty sure he has too!" Asher's optics grew brighter.

"He knows that now so don't worry Miko," he was his chipper self again.  "He's just attached is all, to him you guys are like Sparklings which I think means children in their own way.  He doesn't want ya hurt but with me around it'll be hard for anything to get ya right Hunt?"

"Affirmative!" the three jumped as Hunter spoke from behind them, they were waiting for Ghost to appear beside the Exo.  Asher let out a loud laugh, that had tickled his sensors in the right way. "It is getting late though, perhaps the children should go home now?  I'm sure it will give those two time to cool off."

"That's not a bad idea right Miko?" Miko made a face and Asher gave a cooing sound, his voice more of a chirp.  Asher cleared his throat the moment it left his mouth, his red optics glowing brighter in in embarrassment. Miko cracked a grin at what she recognized as his embarrassment.  "Oh yeah, hey Asher can you let Optimus know we're not gonna be here a week and a half? We have our midterm tests then it's a field trip our teachers organized." Miko let out a groan, she hated studying but she needed to keep her grades up if not it's back to Tokyo for her.

"A field trip?" Hunter was now hovering over his Guardian's shoulder.  "That sounds like fun! Anyway, I'll let the big boss know, you guys stay safe and study hard!" As they waved their goodbyes Asher managed to hear Raf asking Miko for a ride as they went to find their friends.  Asher's optics narrowed in confusion, "Hey ya think Bumblebee having an ex-partner bothers Raf?" Hunter's body shook and Asher recognized it as a shrug. "Come on, I want to start looking over those materials. I want the most promising on a list so that we can get it to Ratchet." They exit the room and there was Sam and Bumblebee.  "Hey guys! How'd the talking go?"

"You didn't say there were other humans already here." was the first thing out of Sam's mouth.  Bumblebee beeped in apology to the Exo who was rubbing the back of his head with a nervous laugh.  "I'm supposed to be bridging these teams together and you didn't think telling me was one of the first things you should have done?"

"It was Optimus' call not to say anything yet alright?  Besides you were pissed enough as it was when we tried explaining our work to you, don't get mad at Bee or anyone.  How they got onboard was an accident and well they needed to be looked after in case the Decepticons went after 'em which they have before by the way." Asher took a deep breath, the actions static filled.  Hunter set himself on his partner's head, "Your balance is on point Hunt!"

Sam's serious frown dropped and he gave an amused furrow of his brow, "Bee already explained how it happened so I suppose I'm not as mad as before.  I actually wanted to meet them, we saw you walking over here and since we didn't see them in the living area Bee figured Raf came here." Asher started balancing on one foot, dramatically tilting left and then right; he was trying to see if he could dislodge Hunter.

"You just missed them actually," Asher tilted to a low left.  "Hunter suggested they go home early so Bluebell and Big Green could calm down a bit on the drive.  Raf asked Miko for a ride since you were busy talking to your old friend." He tilted a low right but Hunter was still on his head.  "Dammit Hunter I swear if you've magnetized yourself I'm calling you a cheater!" Bumblebee beeped in question and Asher shrugged in response.  "He didn't say why, he asked her on the way out and I just happened to hear him." Asher then realized he was still in the yellow 'bot's room and he snapped up straight.  Hunter gave a whoa and dislodged from his perch. "I was just talking to them in your room, I wasn't doing anything weird and I swear I wasn't snooping! Honest!"

"Wait what?" Sam was confused, Bee was confused and now Asher was confused too.

"I don't know alright?  Hey Hunt, send Swordfish a message tell him about the tests and field trip the squishies are doing." He casually went by the confused duo.  "See you later Roomie! I got some lists to make!"

"Is he alway so...?" Bumblebee beeped in response and Sam turned his confused look to his old partner, he didn't speak Bumblebee.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

**Locien stood before Variks and Petra, both voicing their concern on his and James’ wellbeing.  The Rogue only sighed, he'd gone over this many times in that day alone and even more so the day before.  Locien was silently cursing his brother. James scurried off the moment they touched down on the Reef and had yet to appear.  He's had enough and so cleared his throat as a courtesy to the two. They stopped talking at least Petra did, Variks gave a clicking answer in the Fallen tongue.  "Asher-8 cannot be left alone wherever he has landed. I understand your concerns but there are more Guardians spawning practically every day since Zavala broke through the Cabal's tight security on Mars."**

**"You are last of them, Reef cannot lose you as well. What of your remaining family?" Variks growled.  "There is possibility you will not return, who will lead then?"**

**"You and Petra," he answered without a thought.  "Eris is there to help as well until he is ready to lead." Locien put a hand on his hip with a sigh.  "Look, Asher-8 has taken great care of my brother since the incident with Ethan and we all know how badly James got without that team."**

**"Asher-8 went rogue for a few months or have you forgotten that little fact my Prince?" Petra's face was calm and Locien found it a bit unnerving.  She's never pulled it on him, he's always avoided having to make them go through what they did when Mara and Uldren died.**

**"And James brought him back to himself when he started wavering, he returned to us because James needed him.  He may be at a breaking point out there alone, he may be fighting or running from enemies and beings he may not understand and I refuse to simply leave it as is.  We are better than the Vanguard Petra, Lord Saladin has expressed his approval; I will not leave another brother behind." At the mention of the Iron Lord they stilled.  He knew the next words to come from Petra would hurt them both, afterall she constantly reminded him that James had yet to completely forgive Asher. Locien knew mentioning the Iron Lord was a low blow but he needed them to come to terms with his departure, he needed them focused on their duties.  "Laia is on standby, she will communicate with the Reef and the Tower. Use this to your advantage, the Taken King has not been found so you will focus on finding him if we are to return."**

**"Very well my Prince," Petra answered stiffly.  "Is there anything else you need of us?"**

**"A multitude of Special, Primary and Heavy ammunition for one.  High level Hunter Armor, and material...a lot of material. We may need modifications and we won't be able to do it without them." Miluion, Locien's Ghost, appeared over his shoulder.**

**"Provide service to the others, their equipment is at its highest Tier so give them the option of improvement or a change." Variks gave a gurgled laugh, he always loved a challenge.  "Locien I have taken the liberty of moving all of your items from the vault; I've dismantled what was no longer needed and so you have room to take other items. You're lucky I factored in the Last Battle." Locien grinned at his Ghost, that was his favorite ship and it was fast too.**

**"Make sure to stock them up as well, Eris is only awaiting us to begin the rift opening." Locien nodded once to them.  "It's been an honor serving among you again and as a Guardian, dismissed." the two bowed to their last Prince then left the throne room to prepare the supplies.  They would put everything on their ships, Variks went to the Guardians that were with Rafiq, he would do what he could for their equipment and weapons in such short time.  Locien watched them go, silence fell over him as he took in the throne where Mara once sat and Uldren stood beside her. Moira once stood beside them both, just a little behind from where he stood, before she perished in the fight against the Wolves.  That seemed like eons ago, and yet it felt as if she left him so suddenly. His hand travelled up to where both of their rings sat around his neck on a chain.**

**"Locien?" said Awoken shook the thoughts from his head.  "Are you well? You're frowning and it suddenly felt..." He hadn't known he was frowning, with all that has been going on he hardly had time to rest, let alone think.**

**"I am well Miluion, it has just been a while since I last thought of her." Miluion settled on the Hunter's shoulder in hopes of providing comfort.  "I miss her...I miss her so, so much that at times it hurts to the point that the pain is a numbness." a warmth flared inside him and the frown turned into a small smile.  "Are you angry at all Mil, that I am abandoning the City?"**

**"No, you plan to return and I know it's the truth.  If we do not return then that's another story but I would not be angry.  You are my Guardian, I will support you through everything. If you ever wished to leave this fight willingly I would still be right beside you." Locien's grin grew before he turned, his hood and helmet coming back on as his Ghost disappeared.  He exit the throne room without looking back. He needed to speak with Rafiq, there was a growing wariness on his mind, a shadow that perhaps he would be able to alleviate. When he found the Awoken man he was speaking with a boy no older than sixteen.  Locien felt his heart stutter at the devastated look on the teen’s face at what Rafiq was telling him. He knew what he had to do. The moment he got close enough the teen rounded on him with a look full of anger but before he could say anything, Locien pulled him into a hug.  The teen sucked in a breath and hugged the man back tightly.**

**“Why are you leaving us?” Locien only hugged him tighter before he pulled him back to arms length.**

**“It is something I must do, a debt I must pay.” he answered and unclipped the chain from his neck.  He grabbed the teen’s hand and laid one of the rings in his palm before he returned Moira’s to its rightful place.  “Keep this safe for me,” he said lightly as the teen decidedly put the ring on a chain he had with Uktra’s memory. “Keep it close to your heart Cody.”**

**“And that’s what?  Is it supposed to help me feel better that you’re leaving because of some debt you need to pay off?” Locien felt his heart constrict even more.  Moira’s beautiful but pale face entered his mind before he shook it off.**

**“I need you to believe that I will come back chère (dear one), if you don’t then what motivation do I have to come back here?” Cody hated when Locien wore his helmet around the Reef.  It made it harder to see what exactly the Rogue was thinking and why.**

**“I do believe in you père (father), I just...” Locien looked around the Vestian Outpost, when he saw no sign of the others he allowed Miluion to remove his helmet.  Cody saw then just how stricken his père was about leaving him behind. “We lost maman (mama),” Locien’s brow furrowed in pain. “The Reine (Queen), and le corbeau (The Crow)...I lost Dad.  I don’t think I can take losing you too.” Locien put a hand on Cody’s head before he forced a smile on his face, knowing his son would see through it. He forced away the tears threatening to fall.**

**“You and everyone here are all I have left to protect, aside from James that is, so don’t think I’ll be staying away anytime soon.” he ruffled the short hair and Cody gave a watery laugh.  “Ne t'inquiète pas, je reviens vers toi. C'est quelque chose que vous n'avez pas à craindre (Don't worry sparrow, I will return to you. That's something you don't need to fear).” Cody crushed the man in a hug that Locien gladly returned.  Rafique nodded once so Miluion stood ready to return the helmet, it was enough time for Locien to kiss Cody’s head before he returned it to its place. “Je me soucie profondément de votre moineau (I care deeply for you sparrow).”**

**“And I you père...you know that I will always believe in you.” Locien got ready to depart with a bigger shadow over his heart.**

**It was late in the night** **when everything was prepared and the six Guardians were ready to go.  Locien saw no smiles on the team’s faces, Varriks’ upgrades usually put some on there but not today.  The entirety of the Reef went to see them off; their Prince was leaving and there was a chance he would not return.  Some could not fathom why he was going for a Guardian that once showed him a large amount of disrespect. No words were said but the message was clear, they boarded and followed Locien out into the debris.  Eris began to chant into their coms; she had Petra place relics on three of their ships. Those relics began to Awaken and a rift began to form.**

**"Everyone assemble your Taken Armor, Ghosts use the Essence Miluion gave you to cloak the ship." it was done, "No matter what happens try and stay together; our priority is finding Asher...alive."**

**"It is a risk, Prince.  Eris will open new rift when Oryx scum is found and destroyed." Locien took a deep breath.  "May take a long while."**

**"Good luck Guardians and...take care my Prince." Locien smiled at Petra being herself again.  The Chanting finished and the rift was now fully opened. "Now!" The six went full thrust, five seconds and both the rift and the team were gone.  Petra and Variks stood beside each other, the Reef watching where the ships were seen last. "Guards return to the docks, we need to find that Taken King." She turned away as the three ships returned to the Reef and the people returned to their duties.  Things needed to be done, that beast needs to die if the Fireteam is to have any hope in returning.**


	5. Trial and-They did what!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Asher, we are coming. If you hear this, we are coming for you. We're almost there, stay alive until then." Ironhide gave a rumble, whoever this was...would they be able to get to Steelfrost in time?

Asher sighed as the tenth trial failed, Hunter told him he should take a break but where exactly would he spend his time? He didn't interact with the NEST Rangers because they were always busy, Ironhide and Optimus always seemed to be with them too and Bumblebee was with Sam. Arcee and Bulkhead were allowed to accompany Jack, Miko and Raf in case anything were to happen and those three are due back sometime today which was reported three days ago, and they’re returning half a week earlier. Still, something had started tickling his senses as if something was gonna go wrong. Probably a good thing then that Bluebell and Big Green went with the kids. Though Asher thinks Bulkhead volunteered to keep confrontation with Ironhide to a minimum. The Exo himself could use a new perspective on his work but Ratchet's constant nagging on blowing things up had started grating on Asher so with a final joke he made his way to the NEST base's containment rooms and continued his experiments there. He should have begged Optimus to let him tail the children, at least maybe then he wouldn't have to force himself to work so much, like Imara did when she tried upgrading their equipment further. Another sigh escaped his lips. Hunter started another trial in the eleventh containment unit he built to minimize the damage in case the compound did not take and so far it hadn't. Asher jogged a ways away and waited, hoping it would take. "Synchronization at 30%, 45%, 68%...80%!" Asher couldn't help but grow excited as well. "95%!" the compound turned green inside the empty casing of special ammunition Hunter provided. Both Exo and Ghost were ready to burst in victory but then the compound turned red and Asher pulled Hunter to his chest then turned away as the case exploded outward. The blast was enough to send him flying forward, he landed with a deep noise of pain before he groaned. The other explosions weren't nearly as big or loud as this one. Asher groaned once more as he released his partner and rolled onto his stomach. "Asher are you alright?"  
"Yeah," he stood up with a shake of his head, the strange ominous feeling creeping on the edge of his sixth sense was growing but still he turned to look at the mess the blast made. He needed to get this done or risk relying solely on his Hunter abilities and whatever weapons NEST decided to equip him with. "That was bigger than before."  
"It appears the closer we are to the correct substitute the bigger the explosion since the compound itself becomes more charged." Asher blinked his optics to his Ghost before jumping up with an excited yell and a fist pump. Hunter gave out a snort before hovering over to the decimated containment unit.  
"It was at ninety-five percent synchronization, we're getting closer! Woot!" the door behind them swished open and there stood Optimus and Ironhide with their canons out and ready but Asher bypassed that in his excitement. He turned to the battle ready Autobots with a shout. "We're so close Swordfish! The Synch level was up to ninety-five percent and it turned the right color before exploding! Hunt examine the properties of what Ratchet gave us and then asked him if there is anything similar or greater of it around! Oh man this is so awesome!" he threw his hands up in joy again but the two Autobots were frowning, their weapons re-drawn into their bodies and Asher's joy deflated at the disapproving look of doom Optimus was shooting him. "What's wrong? Was there an attack on the base? I thought the Decepticons couldn't find us."  
"No there has not been a Decepticon attack,” a pause. “At the moment." Asher looked from Hunter's small body hovering over the blast mark to the two towering 'bots and his mouth opened with a soft, drawn out Oh of realization. They thought there was being attacked or something.  
"Sorry Optimus we didn't think the blast was gonna be that bad." Ironhide crossed his arms over his chest and Asher shrunk back from the action before he puffed his chest out and stood his ground, Guardian or not these Cybertronians were big and intimidating. "Look we're closer to perfecting it and we can't quit now but I promise I'll be careful and com in when it's me causing the blast."  
"I'm a weapons specialist Steelfrost, you didn't think asking me for help would be I don't know...any help?" Asher's optics narrowed. It had crossed his mind but he had seen Ironhide spending a lot of time with both Optimus and the Rangers on base. He also went around on missions with them just in case the humans needed back up.  
"It crossed my mind 'hide but you looked so busy lately. Hunter and I just thought it best to not interrupt you from your job ya know? I had Ratchet helping me but he kept nagging me about me almost blowing up his medical equipment even when I told him to move it or move us somewhere else." Asher put his hand on his hips as he leaned forward a bit, waving his finger around in a reprimanding gesture. "And what is up with that name? The name's Asher-8 not Steelfrost."  
"The reason I went on mission was because there was nothing else to do on base and I was technically on temporary relief. Ratchet gave me a list of what you were using as a substitute, have you used potassium perchlorate?" Asher opened his mouth but shook his head. "What did you use a moment ago?"  
"Potassium chlorate," the weapon specialist gave a rumbling sigh and Asher tilted his head in confusion. "Is that not a good substitute when mixing sulfur and charcoal?"  
"It works well in smoke grenades Steelfrost," If Asher had eyebrows he would be raising one at the name. "Potassium perchlorate is a good substitute, when mixed with sulfur and charcoal it makes a substance similar to Earth's black powder." Asher shuffled his feet. "I will bet my arsenal that potassium perchlorate will easily coexist with the composition of your unique ammunition ." Hunter hovered back over, his shell twisted once before disappearing.  
"Hunter took note but he also said if I don't take a break he won't let me try it so..." Optimus was about to offer his hand to the Exo but Ironhide knelt first and offered his own. Asher glanced at Optimus before hopping on; the weapon specialist nodded once to Optimus and all three made their way back to the main base. "Hey, the fleshies were supposed to be back today. Any idea what time they are?"  
"Arcee was to com in when they were on route to return but they have not." The feeling was creeping up again. "It is only noon in Earth time Asher, Arcee estimated that they would not return until perhaps the evening." He must have noticed something off about the Exo but still the feeling was there and even Hunter began to grow anxious. When they made it topside everyone was in a frenzy, Asher thought the blast had caused damage but Lennox was barking out orders and worst of all; Arcee and Bulkhead were standing there but only Jack and Raf were with them. Asher didn't wait as the two Autobots hurried over. As soon as he was close he jumped off Ironhide's hand and landed beside the two fleshies.  
"Are you hurt? What happened? Where's Miko?" he asked as he looked over Raf first, there was a cut on his forehead.  
"They came out of nowhere, we told our teachers we were being picked up by Arcee and Bulkhead. They got Miko before they could make it to us and they just flew away after." Jack explained. A medical officer jogged over, a first aid kit in hand. "We were hiding at first then ran but instead of just playing with us they tried catching us, really tried. Miko tripped and a blast from their weapons forced me to cover Raf and they took her." Asher stepped back and let the Ranger do his work.  
"Jack, did they open a ground bridge?" the teen shook his head, they hadn't opened one at least not that he had seen. Bumblebee rushed in with Sam on his shoulder. The 'bot immediately knelt beside Raf and beeped in worry.  
"Ratchet is working on pinpointing her signal but it keeps appearing in different areas." Arcee added in. Bulkhead was quiet and that worried the Exo, he could always hear the Wrecker's voice echoing through the halls. "I don't know how they were able to do it." Asher watched the Ranger patch up Jack and Raf, his mind far away from the conversation but he knew Hunter would be listening even though he was working over a control panel like computer.  
"Optimus, we can send out some of ours to look for her." Lennox said, they continued their discussion with the Prime telling the Colonel it was a trap and a dangerous one at that. Hunter then reappeared before Asher and the Exo nodded once. "We know it's a trap but what other choice is there? We didn't even know there were three kids involved before this happened. We could have sent some of our with them on their field trip as mock security from the government due to certain circumstances. We could have bought Arcee and Bulkhead some time."  
"Enough,” Asher snapped, this could be dealt with later. “Our priority is finding Miko."  
"We must be cautious in our search." Optimus agreed.  
Hunter opened a projection. "Ratchet has sent me this map, he has narrowed it down to three locations. These three have the strongest life signals, he assumes that the replication was not completely accurate. I suggest two Autobots with each Ranger team." Bulkhead let out a growl, he wanted payback.  
"Two per team but that would leave my third squad on with one, unless..." Lennox began as Hunter and the projection disappeared. "You're planning on going with them."  
"Asher," but the Exo's dimmed eyes snapped to the Prime, he would not sit around when he could be more help in finding the girl. "Very well, it will be likely that we will need your medical assistance." Prime tilted his head, "Ratchet, is the ground bridge ready to be opened?"  
"Affirmative Optimus, I will open three ground bridges, one at a time, to each location. Standby." Bee let Sam down, the young man kneeling down to stay with the kids. The four Autobots transformed into their vehicles. Ironhide a Modified GMC Topkick C4500, Bee as a 2010 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1, Arcee a Kawasaki Ninja 250R, and Bulkhead a modified Lamborghini LM002. "Opening to first location."  
"Epps," the man stepped forward with a squadron behind him. They got into one of their military grade trucks just as the bridge opened. "Don't get in too much trouble." Epps only grinned and stepped on the gas. Without a word from Optimus, Arcee and Bulkhead followed after them. Optimus gave a hum at the action before transforming into a Peterbilt 379. That closed and another opened, "Fig." His squad got on a set of motorbikes and rushed through. Asher got on his Sparrow, his gear back on before he raced through, Ironhide following him right after. Another opened after the second closed and Bee and Optimus followed Lennox's team through.  
Asher and Ironhide appeared through the bridge, Fig's team had stopped a ways away. "Hunt tap into all radio frequencies, we need to be connected." beep and then a low squeal before it stopped. "Do you guys copy?"  
"We hear you Asher," Fig replied after a moment's pause, their radio buttons were helpfully put on the back of their middle finger. "The signal should be here in this area but we don't see anything."  
"Keep your eyes open and stay alert," Ironhide started. "Don't lower your guard." Red appeared on Asher's visor, not too close but not far enough.  
"Got red on my scanner, they're close by. We need to continue on, you guys be careful." Asher and Ironhide took point and the Marines brought up the rear.  
"Jefe you think I can use one of your sparrows on a mission sometime? Those things look like they can go faster than what you've allowed us back on base." Fig asked and Asher knew he was the nervous talker on suspenseful mission like this.  
"Maybe, Hunt says we're less than ten meters from enemy targets. 'hide I think it's a good idea if the Rangers and I continue on foot, it'll be quieter that way." Ironhide began to slow down so Asher held up his hand and they all stopped.  
"I will come at a slower pace to draw less attention but if the shooting starts I'm charging in." Asher felt Hunter's amusement.  
"Copy that 'hide, Fig let's go." Asher's sparrow disappeared and the others left their bikes. As they rounded a rock wall they spotted three Decepticon underlings, Fig sent two men left and two right to flank them. He stayed with Asher, they moved quietly and hid behind a small rock wall. Fig sent some hand signals to Asher, Hunter had the decency to translate what Fig meant (He always did suck at those hand signals) so he nodded once. The Ranger crept forward and took a peek around the wall for a moment before turning back and shaking his head. "Red, do you see her?"  
"Negative, Johns confirm eval." static came through the com link for a moment before John's voice patched though.  
"Confirmed, she isn't here...Optimus was right this is a trap."  
"What should we do Fig?" Red asked. Fig looked to Asher who shook his head. Charging in without seeing Miko first would be suicide plus the fact that they would use her safety against them, whether she was here or not. And in any case, it would be stupid to show he was alive.  
"They believe you dead Asher, this is a risk to both you and your team." Asher felt apprehension, Ironhide was wrong this wasn't really his team. It was Fig's. "Fall back, Ratchet has opened a ground bridge for our return. Do it quickly, the longer it stays open the faster they can detect us."  
"Pulling back." Red confirmed.  
"Same." Johns answered. Fig and Asher started creeping back but large, heavy footfalls made them pause. The Exo put a finger to his mouth, way to jinx it Ironhide. Both stood ready in case they were caught but were as silent as they could be. "Fig we see Red, we're heading towards Ironhide. Do you copy?" Asher shook his head when Fig went to answer, the Decepticons were getting closer. "Fig do you copy? Asher?" Asher gave a mental nudge to Hunter to answer the Ranger.  
"They can hear you Johns. Quickly return to Ironhide and they will meet with you in a moment." Fig grinned at the Exo, his partner was a genius.  
"Understood Hunter, good luck." Johns replied. Asher stuck a hand out, a smoke bomb appeared in his hand. It wouldn't make Fig invisible but if timed correctly it would blind the mech. He should really get on top of making them better equipment. The Decepticon footfalls stopped; Asher felt uneasy so he pulled at Fig's sleeve so that the man would move behind him but would be running in front. Asher signaled him to start forward quietly so the man did. Asher kept his attention to where the Decepticons were last heard but then...a large crunch. Fig froze as he looked down under his boot and found a pink phone crushed under it. Asher turned in a hurry and pushed the man forward just as the rock wall was blasted away. Asher stood quickly after the blast but the human was groaning from the it so the Exo gripped his arm and lugged his ass up.  
"Get a grip Fig, we need to go!" with one shake of his head the Ranger shot up and started running with Asher right behind him. There was no pausing, the Ranger's bike was too much trouble since he had to kick up the stand then turn the bike on. "Ironhide is the bridge still open?"  
"We're waiting on you to return through. Epp's needs help on his end." Asher replied with an affirmative before he did a quick turn with two Void wall grenades in his hand. He threw them down and purple fire emerged. The underlings made no attempt to stop, they charged through but soon felt the effects of the grenade and slowed.  
"Fig," he said into the com link. "Looks like you'll get your wish, Hunter is going to summon a sparrow straight ahead of you. Get back to the bridge and make sure it is shut once you're through!" Hunter made the sparrow appear and Fig didn't slow down too much. The Decepticons started gaining on them so he took off and a whirring notified Asher that they transformed into their aerial vehicles. Asher jumped, a sparrow appearing under him before he took off behind the Ranger. The bridge was straight ahead and he managed to see Fig disappear into it but at the speed the underlings were going he wouldn't make it without them going through. "Ratchet close the damn bridge, they're right behind me!"  
"You are still not through Asher-8!" the Exo was aggravated, didn't Ratchet know they couldn't let them through.  
"They'll make it through before us, close it!" Hunter called into the com.  
"Get your aft through the bridge now Steelfrost!" Asher snorted a short laugh at Ironhide's yell. Who did he think he was, Lord Shaxx? The bridge started flickering. "Ratchet, he can make it!"  
"I'm not closing it, they're beginning to block the signal!" Asher started panicking, the Medic sounded on the verge of panicking himself. It would be a repeat of the last time only now the Decepticons won't care if he dies, they know he will come back no matter how many times he falls. Hunter wanted to help but he would need to come out in the open and Asher forbids that of his Ghost in combat.  
"I'm coming back Steelfrost." Ironhide's statement brought down his panic levels.  
"You cannot Ironhide, the bridge is destabilizing!" Asher knew Ratchet could do nothing and letting Ironhide through could kill him or worse. Ironhide cursed into the com link and Asher knew he could only reassure them as best he could that he would not die easily.  
"I'll hold out for as long as I can," his voice came out a lot more distressed than he wanted. "Don't leave me behind." Static filled his com before Hunter shut it off. The bridge disappeared so Asher hit the brake causing his sparrow to drift into a sharp U-turn. He punched the sparrow's speed to its fullest and managed to get passed the troops.  
"Asher what are you planning?" the Exo's grip on his sparrow was deadly.  
"What Fig stepped on to cause that noise was a phone, maybe the one Miko used to send us pictures of them on their field trip." his voice was quivering in the beginning, it had been a very long time since he was truly afraid but then the realization that they did have Miko close by hardened his resolve. His fear was still there but he would not, could not, leave the innocent girl in their clutches. "How far can you scan the area without being physically out?" a blast threw Asher up, he hit the brake on instinct like Dren had showed him. He spun on the his sparrow before landing safe enough. He spotted the rock walls and adjusted his direction to make it in through the small gap without a problem but before he could make it through, one of the seekers landed before him. Asher was forced to stop his vehicle and stare up at the mech.  
"I'm picking up a faint signal, they're hiding her well now." Asher felt his resolve waver as the three seekers surrounded him, they had suspected he would take off again. "They're Seekers Asher, smaller foot soldiers for the Decepticons." they pointed their cannons so Asher sighed and got off his Sparrow with his hands held up in surrender. A loud rumble and a Bushmaster (it's an armored car from Australia) appeared, it transformed until Asher saw Breakdown standing behind one of the Seekers. A MQ-1 Predator appeared next and transformed midair, Soundwave now stood beside Breakdown. Asher groaned at the sight of the two. He needed to bide time for a plan, time for the others to get to him.  
"Please tell me Ice-cream isn't making an appearance." He needed to find Miko. "Oh hey there Handsome," Asher waved to Breakdown and then did a salute to Soundwave. "How's scream queen treating ya Sweetcheeks?" the mech only tilted his head as the Sparrow disappeared. Soundwave knew he was dead the last they left him but Megatron had not taken their answer and now the mech was seeing that his Lord's suspicions were accurate. Strange then how this human had not stayed dead.  
"Don't even start meat-sack; we're not letting you get away from us again." the Seeker before him moved to the side in order for Soundwave to reach down and pick up the Exo. Asher sighed and grabbed onto the mech's thumb and instead of holding him in a fist he simply kept his hand open. "You gonna cooperate instead of shocking us again?" Asher shrugged as best he could with one arm available to make it exaggerated. Hunter was pushing at him to use his Blade Dancer again to get away but Asher told him that patience is a virtue. The underlings kept their cannons out but away from the Exo now in their superiors grasp.  
"Did it hurt when I got you last time Handsome?" the look Breakdown was sporting was making Asher a bit uneasy, he had to play this carefully or they'd test their theory of his death. "Aw don't be like that! Tell you what," he let go of Soundwave's thumb and jumped towards the Ex-Wrecker, the 'con didn't even move so Asher used his second jump to land on the mech's shoulder. The Seekers had tensed but when he landed on Breakdown they lowered their cannons all the way down. "I'll cooperate if ya let me see, look over, and talk to Miko. Oh and if you let her go afterwards do we have a deal Handsome?" the 'con narrowed his one good optic, the Exo figured they wouldn't believe him.  
"You are in no place to negotiate Human." Asher looked to the silent Mech talking into his com. "The female will be staying with us, she will enable us to control the Autobots." the Exo's optics narrowed behind his visor. A broken message came into his audio and he knew the silent 'con would hear it, what exactly is Hunter thinking letting the mech into their com link frequency.  
"Asher-com-you...alive 'til then." oh that's what he was thinking, clever little light. Hunter took offense to the name, he felt it since Hunter couldn't say anything without alerting the 'con tapped in. Still that didn't sound like the Autobots, it wasn't Ratchet. Maybe it was one of the Rangers? Yeah that had to be it, it totally didn't sound like Imara telling him something about staying alive because they were coming for him. Pfft, they were not stupid enough to do that. Soundwave tilted his head again, he could hear that soft buzzing, no it was more like the hum of a machine and it was coming from the human again. Was it the technology he used that made the sound? Soundwave didn't think so, the sound was different and more...integrated? Yes, he would say it was more integrated with the human, as if he and the sound were of the same body.  
"Honestly saying here Sweetcheeks I am in a position to negotiate, I've taken on one of you and came out on top. I'm pretty sure I can make some good damage before you manage to pin me down." Okay he may be a Hunter Class but dammit he can still do a fair amount of damage. A marker appeared on his visor and Asher knew that Hunter had located Miko or at least got a good idea where she was. "Me telling you I'll cooperate is a courtesy that I rarely give to my enemies let alone telling them I'll do damage." He wasn't a Titan, Dren would have been useful with his Sunbreaker or his specialty, Striker. Heck even Imara with her Void Walker's Nova-wait! That's it! Breakdown shrugged his shoulder to throw Asher off, the Exo gave a short yelp before jumping over to Soundwave. He landed on the Mech's head, he laughed then; what a perfect height and angle to use it! The Seekers had all turned towards the trio so they're in range.  
"Lord Megatron believed you were alive and he was right." Breakdown finally said, his tone held two things Asher had not heard in awhile. Contempt and malice; Hunter only found what Bulkhead had reported about Breakdown's capture, what he saw when he was rescuing the mech. The 'con already disliked humans on principle alone but it seems after what happened he grew cynical, Asher knew the feeling. Hunter was already uneasy but at his tone the Ghost grew alarmed. Still, Asher played his part well and put his hands on his hips in a casual manner but the Seekers around them took several steps away from the ex-Wrecker. It's a good thing he gets three shots.  
"And what does that mean exactly?" Soundwave took one step away from the mech as well. He knew Breakdown would crush the human if given the chance.  
"Means I don't have to hold back. I can end your fleshy spark as much as I want but you'll be alive by the time we get you to Lord Megatron." it went silent between them. Hunter's alarm turned to full out panic then panicked worry since Asher's fear had suddenly calmed. He needed to do it now so he did what he did best; he laughed. It started out low then began escalating until it was bordering manic.  
"Oh you big tease!" the joy in his tone made the Seekers think they were sent to capture a mentally unstable bag of flesh. "You sure know how to flirt with someone Handsome, you make a lasting impression. However!" purple Void energy began to emit from Asher's left hand. "I don't have time to play with you right now, sorry but ya know how it is." he jumped once, a purple energy bow and arrow appeared in his hands. He aimed one between Breakdown and Soundwave, another at a Seeker's head since he was aiming his weapon and the last between the last two Seekers. As he neared the ground Hunter brought forth the XV0 "Timebreaker" Sparrow(I saw this online and thought why the hell not?), with Ratchet's help (note: condescending help) he was able to increase the speed of this one in particular. He punched it and he sped off at 190.  
"You can't keep this speed very long or it will overheat and explode with you on it." Hunter said into the com.  
"I got it Hunt now will it withstand the distance to my mark?"  
"Only just, as soon as you get close enough jump off and I will store it again." Asher gave a curse as he just barely missed hitting a boulder. "If you make it that far that is."  
"Trying to not die here!" He answered. "I just need to get there and get her out."  
\-------------------------------------------------------LINE--------------------------------------------------BREAK--------------------------------------LINE------------------------------------------------------BREAK------------------------------------------  
"Arcee and Bulkhead have requested back-up, there were a lot more Decepticons in their area than they first thought." Ironhide sat in his Alt. Mode, looking to the walls of rocks but he didn't see Asher or Fig. The Autobot sighed before he turned his alt mode around and raced through the bridge. As soon as he made it back to the base he transformed again.  
"Ironhide is the bridge still open?" so Steelfrost was still alive then.  
"We're waiting on you to return through. Epp's needs help on his end." Asher replied with an affirmative.  
"Fig, looks like you'll get your wish, Hunter is going to summon a sparrow straight ahead of you. Get back to the bridge and make sure it's shut once you're through!" Dammit Asher, that's not happening. The Autobots do not leave a comrade behind.  
It was a few moments later that Fig came racing through the bridge on Asher's Sparrow, his control was sloppy but he only partially slammed against one of the still parked trucks. He took deep breaths as he hopped off the vehicle, his com unusable to respond because of the blast. He jogged back over to Ironhide who was looking down at him. "You heard what that idiota said right?" the 'bot looked from the Ranger to the open portal. "I personally think we shouldn't, there were three 'cons on our tail. Almost blew us up the first time."  
"Ratchet close the damn bridge, they're right behind me!"  
"You are still not through Asher-8!" Ratchet knew what could happen, what would happen, should he be captured by the Decepticons. He would not let it go like that, Asher was still his patient whether he knew it or not.  
"They'll make it through before us, close it!" Hunter called into the com.  
"Get your aft through the bridge now Steelfrost!" Asher snorted a short laugh into the com link. The portal started growing smaller and smaller, Ironhide quickly yelled into the com. "Ratchet, he can make it!"  
"I'm not closing it, they're beginning to block the signal!" Ironhide never thought he'd hear the Medic so frantic.  
"I'm coming back Steelfrost." Ironhide would not leave the small Exo to fend off three Decepticons at once. He was about to transform but Ratchet's voice filtered through the com.  
"You cannot Ironhide, the bridge is destabilizing!" Ironhide started cursing.  
"I'll hold out for as long as I can," distress was clear in his voice even if he intended it to be reassuring. "Don't leave me behind." Static filled the com and the bridge disappeared. Ironhide had never felt so useless in his entire existence. He didn't want to look at his human companions, he had failed. In war, he had tried saving those being left behind but this was not a field of war. He had no reason to go through the bridge until he saw both smaller companions, he should have waited! He should have-! No he could not dwell on this, they must act or Asher will be captured like the girl, Miko.  
"Ratchet open a ground bridge as close as possible to Steelfrost's location." the Rangers got back on their bikes so Fig went to the Sparrow and checked it over. Ironhide was right, no man was left behind.  
"I'm working on it," Ratchet answered.  
"It was my fault they heard us in the first place," Fig said at last. "Asher was covering us, I stepped on something...it crunched like-it was a cellphone!" Ironhide snapped his head to the Marine. "Assuming you big guys don't have cellphones, I'm guessing the girl, Miko, was nearby but just carefully hidden!"  
"Ratchet inform the others, Miko and Asher are in the same location. We need to get there or we'll lose them both." Ironhide only wished Asher did hold on long enough for them to get there.  
"I've informed the others but the Decepticons are fighting doubly hard!" the medic answered quickly. "Hm, this is strange..." Ratchet murmured as he typed on his system. There was a strange signal, it was similar to Asher's frequency but the Medic knew it wasn't the Exo. He allowed the frequency to play and his optics widened in disbelief. "Ironhide I've tapped into a frequency similar to Asher's, listen."  
"Asher, we are coming. If you hear this, we are coming for you. We're almost there, stay alive until then." Ironhide gave a rumble, whoever this was...would they be able to get to Steelfrost in time?  
"I'm opening a ground bridge now, the closest we could get was near Optimus and Bumblebee. I'm going to try to make contact with these beings, perhaps they can help Asher." A ground bridge opened so the Rangers raced through and Ironhide simply ran.  
\-------------------------------------------------------LINE--------------------------------------------------BREAK--------------------------------------LINE------------------------------------------------------BREAK------------------------------------------  
The rift opened near Saturn's rings and ten seconds later five ship shot out. "Is everyone accounted for?" Locien asked his Ghost.  
"Everyone made it through." Miluion confirmed and Locien let out a sigh of relief.  
"How exactly can we tell we're not in the same Solar System?" Dren asked.  
"The Dreadnought's not there." James said into the com link. "In fact, it's like a fight never happened. Look, no debris from destroyed ships or anything; just the cloud and asteroid belt." Locien hummed, Imara grew hopeful and Dren gave out a breath of relief. The moment they broke warp, Hawke-76 had her Ghost scanning the surrounding planets for life of any sort. With a beep, she and her Ghost finally got into the conversation.  
"Earth seems to be the only planet that contains life, I suggest we send out an encrypted message. One Hunter will be able to detect and decrypt." Aaron, Hawke's Ghost, input as he pinpointed Asher's and Hunter's light. "He is on Earth."  
"Well that's somewhat lucky then. Make your calculations." They all started punching in the numbers for warp. "We'll need to use the Stealth Drives Cayde allowed us to replicate, a precaution in case of any unexpected Fallen, Taken, etc. While in warp, Imara send out the message. He needs to know we are here for him." Imara gave an affirmative and at Locien's call they went into warp. An hour passed and Aaron was almost done pinpointing where exactly the duo was on Earth when all of a sudden the light signals disappeared. Aaron waited a moment but when they didn't reappear he knew something was wrong.  
"Hawke we have a problem, their light signal has disappeared and it hasn't returned." Hawke-76's optics narrowed as her ghost showed her the Exo Hunter's last known location. "Do you think...?" but Hawke was stubborn enough to shake her head before tapping the screen that showed Imara's ship so Aaron got to work.  
"Imara, Aaron has sent where both Asher's and Hunter's last known light signal was. Send out that transmission, we're almost there...and we might need to move fast." Imara received the coordinates, they were rough and unfinished. Questions swam through her mind but she needed to let her friend know he wasn't alone.  
"Received and sending out transmission, I'm making it short." Alec, Imara's Ghost, finished inputting the information and tapped into surrounding frequencies before sending an affirmative to her Guardian. "Asher, we are coming. If you hear this, we are coming for you. We're almost there, stay alive until then." Once the message was out, it took another thirty minutes to break warp and for each minute Dren's leg was bouncing in anticipation. Hawke's few words made them doubt though both she and Locien believed he would be alive when they did reach him.  
"Activate stealth drive," all did so but left their one channel open in case Asher responded but it wasn't the Exo Hunter's voice nor his Ghost's that came through the com link.  
"Are you Imara?" Locien glanced at his Ghost in confusion. "Look there is no time to ponder! All communications and ground bridge capabilities have been cut off. They have Asher-8 backed into a corner and we cannot make it to him in time. So I need to know if you can make it the coordinates I send you to get him out."  
"Who has him in a corner?" Dren asked. There was an irritated sigh on the com. "Make no mistake, we're going to help Asher but we need to have an idea about what we're up against. It won't help if we all die trying to get him out."  
"I-frag!" the voice said over the com and Locien's eyes narrowed in thought. Coordinates came in so the five's Ghosts punched the numbers in. "Listen, three human children were pursued three hours ago, one was taken a girl named Miko. We sent out three teams to each location blasting her life signal, Asher was on one of those teams." there were some voices in the background, they seemed young so the five Guardians figured they were the voices of the other two kids. "Yes I'm getting to that; She was taken by titan sized mechanized beings called Cybertronians. Two weeks ago they got Asher killed, we've had him under house arrest ever since."  
"Asher died?" James demanded, Imara and Dren’s eyes widened; Asher was never one to go down so quickly. Locien hummed, giant mechanized beings huh? "You locked him in because he died?"  
"The Cybertronian faction that attacked him are called Decepticons. They forced his hand and we couldn't reach him in time, I saw what effect his death had on him. He revived out of battle and it's never happened before. Look, we were separated and now we cannot get to him in time. Those Decepticons think he's dead but now they see he can't stay dead!" Imara sucked in a breath at the realization. "What do you think they'll do to him if they manage to catch him dead or alive?" the voice roared.  
"Punch it!" Locien ordered as his ship rushed forward. The others followed after, their stealth drives holding steady. "Assume we're fighting something big like Crota and Oryx's size. Dren I'll need you on Defender, Hawke you're on offensive. Imara Stormcaller and James, Nightstalker...I'll provide cover when needed." Everyone geared up, their helmets on and their guns fully stocked and ready. "We're heading in mon ami, make sure you let everyone else know we're getting this Miko and Asher." they broke through the atmosphere and James was the one to give a sigh of relief, the stealth drives were still holding. As soon as they reached the coordinates Grim called in through the com.  
"Asher's and Hunter's light is still here," Dren took point and led them over. There were four Cybertronians, scattered but close enough for the five Guardians to know they were a group. "Seems they're looking for something."  
"Or someone," Dren answered his Ghost. "Locien, we should break apart. You, James and Imara should go find this Miko girl. I'm sure that's what Asher was doing before these guys forced him to hide."  
"Think you can handle this?" Locien directed to Hawke-76 who in turn gave a snorting sound.  
"I'm offended you felt the need to ask." Grim and Aaron transported their Guardians down below as the three remaining Guardians headed off with Locien trying to talk to Ratchet but the signal was beginning to fade. Some static filled the com so Grim and Aaron shut them off, they'd need to stay close enough to hear each other. "Radio's out Dren but Aaron says he can faintly detect Asher." Dren nodded in agreement as he drew his Thorn hand cannon.  
"Grim got that too, let's see if we can find our Blade Dancer." They weren't trying to sneak around, they were Titans and contrary to popular belief they had a knack for simply charging in guns blazing. As they passed by the Decepticons they caught onto the tail end of their conversation.  
"-Lord Megatron won't be happy we lost the fleshie." Were they talking about Miko? "This would be the second time he gets away and he's not even dead. If we don't catch him Soundwave I'm blaming you since you didn't let me kill him." Nope it was about Asher. Dren and Hawke nodded to one another then continued forward. As they passed a smaller formation of rocks, some voices floated out to them. Hawke motioned her fellow Titan forward. Dren walked inside Grim appearing to light his way. The voices stopped as soon as the light appeared. Asher dashed forward but Hawke caught his wrist before his knife landed. "Come out and I'll consider not killing you for all this trouble." Hawke released the Exo who then sheathed the blade and clasped his hand on Dren's shoulder. Dren did the same before he motioned to the cave entrance, Asher nodded and went forward. He patted Hawke's shoulder in passing as they followed after him. As soon as Asher was close enough a large servo curled around him. Asher yelped, Grim and Aaron turned off their lights then disappeared.  
"Heeeeyyyy..." Asher said in greeting. Dren and Hawke sighed in unison, he'd never change. "I know I like killed one of your other guys but he was about to shoot me so yeah...wait no don't give me to Breakdown he'll squish me to death!" Dren and Hawke rushed out; there stood a Decepticon Seeker with his arm stretched out to another the two Titans assumed was Breakdown. "Seriously don't hand me over!" Dren's eyes widened at the panic in his friend's voice. "Dren!" he called out loudly. A growl bubbled up from Dren's throat and Hawke wished she could make that sound as well.  
"Release him and we'll think about not killing you for the trouble." Sure she couldn't growl but her voice mod did the trick, she somehow always sounded like she was gonna kill something.  
"More fleshies huh?" Breakdown said, the Seeker handing Asher to another mech instead. Dren absently noticed how Asher wasn't as panicked in that one's grasp. "Does he need them alive?" the one holding Asher shook his head.  
"No!" Asher called up and hit the servo holding him. A side arm appeared in his hands so he pointed it at the mech. "Bad Handsome, Bad! No touchie!" all cannons pointed down to the two Titans and Grim being the less calmer of the two was throwing obscenities in Dren's helmet.  
"This won't hurt too much fleshie," Breakdown was going at Asher with some type of device so Asher shot at the mech who shielded his face with his free servo. Screw Defender he was using Sunbreaker; he and Hawke activated their Hammer of Sol and threw their hammers up at the Decepticons. The hits sent the seekers back and into the other two holding Asher. Said Hunter used his double jump to land safely before dashing over to the two Titans raining havoc on the Decepticons who were drawing back but firing their cannons at them. As soon as Asher ran passed them Dren and Hawke made their shots count. They dodged the enemy fire and managed to take out the two Seekers before their Sunbreaker light faded.  
"Asher!" said Exo Hunter threw a grenade at them all as they ran off. Soundwave's hearing or not, the mech wouldn't be able to tell which steps were his target's so Asher was at least somewhat appeased as they ran. The Exo's worries were for naught though, the two mechs hadn't gone after them. Soundwave watched the trio disappear thanks to the little human's grenade; they have peaked his interest and he was sure his Lord would very much wish to hear that there is more than one of these humans with strange (but powerful) abilities.  
"Now I really want to squish them." Soundwave didn't bother looking to the mech before turning and transforming to his alt mode and flying away. They would be heading towards the child's location, he would catch them there. Breakdown huffed but got into his own alt-mode and drove off after the silent mech. The trio watched the two mechs disappear, Asher sighed when they did and slumped back onto the rock wall behind him. Hawke kept a lookout on the surrounding area, her visor would register anyone and anything in red; a hassle but it was better than being completely blind. Dren turned to his friend and teammate, his stance tensed at the sigh that escaped Asher.  
"They have Miko, they know I won't leave without her." Asher's helmet covered head looked to Dren. "Please tell me you didn't send Imara on her own again..." Dren grabbed Thorn from his back and checked it's ammo count.  
"No, she's not her own." he replied and returned the hand cannon to it's place. Hawke cocked her fusion rifle, tossed it over to Asher and nodded back to Dren as the Exo Hunter looked over the customized gun. The gun itself was from the reef that much he could tell, Varriks' work no doubt, but how did they manage to…? Ah, they had the Adept Rogue on their side.  
"If they're planning a trap then let's walk right in shall we?" Asher barked out a laugh at the Exo Titan's response. He felt all giddy inside; man, it felt good to know that almost all of Vector was back together.

**Author's Note:**

> I apologize to anyone who dislikes it, be gentle please. I'm a nervous wreck about this crossover and Loc is as well.  
> Please leave some Kudos!


End file.
